Easter Orienteering
by The Legendary Mew
Summary: After her defeat at the Kanto Grand Festival, May starts to feel more and more depressed, yet at the same time starts to feel different about her travelling companion, Ash. Can a simple Easter game with her mentor and crush help her to understand her feelings? Advanceshipping, AaMayL, AshxMay, SatoshixHaruka
1. Chapter 1

**That's another story idea from me that I'll publish and under normal circumstances, it shouldn't be as long as my other stories. To be honest, it'll be an Advanceshipping special with a certain theme behind it. Of course, it'll contain the love confessions between Ash and May, but mainly, it'll be a fun-story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

**Chapter 1: The annual "Easter" egg hunt**

* * *

After May had competed in the Kanto Grand Festival, Ash's group continued its way towards the battle pyramid, so that the raven-haired boy could challenge Brandon for the second time. Being still a bit down after her defeat at the festival, May seemed unusual nervous when she walked next to Ash.

"I still can't believe that you got to the Top 4 at the festival, May." Ash praised May's performance and smiled at her. Strangely enough, the brunette smiled quickly as well before she turned away in embarrassment.

Max looked suspiciously to his older sister.

"Ash's right with that." Brock admitted as well, not seeing May's reaction. "You even beat Drew."

"You're exaggerating …." May answered, but it was obvious that she loved the compliments from her friends.

"Why do you blush, sis?" Max said straightaway.

May immediately hit her brother on his head after that comment. Unfortunately, Ash and Brock noticed it nevertheless and the two boys glared weirdly at the girl, at least the clueless Ash. Brock's facial expression immediately turned into a frown and the bandana-girl didn't like this at all.

"Did you catch a cold?" Ash asked, placing his hand on May's forehead.

The brunette removed Ash's hand from that spot before she thought about an excuse.

"I'm totally fine, Ash." May clarified. "Max just wanted to tease me like always."

Max was silenced for now and Ash believed her without any arguments. Being in the background, Brock wondered if it was possible that something was developing between two of his friends, although it seemed one-sided for now.

"Now it's my time to finish what I started." Ash said enthusiastically, spotting this determined gaze within his eyes.

May looked happily to the trainer, wishing Ash so much luck like never before.

Walking in front of the group, Pikachu enjoyed the silence of the nature and the yellow rodent even remembered some adventures during its first stint in Kanto. Everyone of the group expected that this wouldn't contain any surprises and that they would only walk along the road until the evening when they would set up their camp for the night.

May kept a constant distance between Ash and her, but that wasn't noticed by anyone so far.

Every silence had to end eventually and this time it ended with a loud growl.

The noise came from a raven-haired trainer who held his stomach and it seemed that it was the time of the day when Ash became hungry. It was just a few minutes before midday and the group just ate breakfast a few hours ago.

"Someone could assume that you fought at the festival, Ash." Brock joked before he heard some noises from the leafs of a nearby tree. After a few seconds, Aipom appeared and the monkey jumped quickly on the ground, informing the others that she was hungry as well.

"To be honest, I wouldn't mind a lunch right now either." May admitted and the girl held her stomach as well.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery …." Max quoted a line from one of his books before he received another hit onto his head.

"What does he mean with that …" Ash asked naively, but he didn't receive an answer. On the one hand, Max didn't dare to tease his sister once more and on the other hand, Brock just laughed mentally.

"He's a kid and he doesn't know what he's talking about, but enough from that. I think that this here is the perfect spot to take a break." May changed quickly the topic, but actually, she was right with her statement.

"I approve May's suggestion." Brock took the 'pressure' away from the brunette before he put his backpack onto the ground. It didn't matter whether they would eat lunch earlier than usual or not.

"I can't wait to eat the wonderful meal of Brock." Ash already dreamed about the meal that Brock would cook for them, but like always it was: First the work, then the fun.

"You'll have to wait a bit longer, Ash." Brock informed the overexcited trainer. "We need some firewood and some water for my cooking. Are there some volunteers?"

Ash sighed, but he should have known it.

"Ash, could you get some firewood and Max and May, could you walk down to the river and get some water?" Brock asked and the three individuals followed their task without many arguments, although Max shielded his head in preparation from another hit from his sister.

Brock stayed at their camp and prepared his utensils that he would need for his cooking.

* * *

Walking down the hill that would lead them to the river, Max and his sister didn't exchange one word until the smaller sibling opened his mouth again.

"What's your deal with Ash, sis?" Max asked carefully, choosing the right words that wouldn't ended with a punch onto his head.

"That's none of your business!" May said angrily.

"If you have a problem, you should let you help. For the last few days, you always have kept a big distance between Ash and yourself and friends shouldn't do something like that. Did you two have an argument or do you know a secret about him?" Max suggested various scenarios that could be the case, but unfortunately, he received another punch onto his head.

"No, we didn't have an argument and I don't know a secret about him. There's no reason for you to be concerned!" May responded, dodging any possibility that could embarrass her somehow in front of her brother.

"I don't think that you would hit me that hard if it was nothing." Max said under his breath, rubbing the spot that fell victim to May's fist.

May turned her head away from her brother, not showing any of her emotions that tortured her the last few days. It was hard enough to walk side by side with Ash without thinking about the if-scenario and with every additional day, it became more difficult to ignore it.

Eventually, the siblings reached the river and Max filled the bucket with some water while May was watching two Butterfrees that flew through the air. It seemed that those two Pokémon loved each other and that they were happy. An unusual sadness started to cover May's heart and for a few moments, she thought about a future life with him.

The two bug-types followed each other to every place and no one of them wanted to lose the other one. The pink Butterfree flew onto a branch and the normal-colored one sat down next to her before they cuddled with each other. It became difficult for May to watch the two lovebirds while she couldn't hope to feel as happy as them.

For a short moment, the brunette just wanted to scream her frustration out of her throat and when she took a deep breath, a small tear rolled down her cheek …

"I'm finished! We can go back to the camp!" Max unintentionally interrupted his sister before she could let her emotions out.

Keeping her words in her mind, May acknowledged the finished work and started slowly to walk back to the camp with her brother where she would see him again. One part of her was happy, because she still had the chance to tell him her feelings, but on the other hand, she was sad, because she knew that she wouldn't tell him her feelings anyway, just like the last few days.

Looking once more over her shoulder, May saw the Butterfrees and how they enjoyed each other's company. If there was just a sign that would reveal to her that the boy loved her as much as she loved him.

* * *

Ash wasn't alone when he searched for firewood, because Aipom and Pikachu helped him a lot with his task. Someone could assume that Ash was too dense to realize that May behaved different, but it wasn't unusual that miracles happened now and then.

"Pikachu, do you think that May's a bit strange as of late?" Ash asked his clueless rodent.

The electro-type tilted his head and shrugged with its small shoulders.

"You don't know it either, huh? She always looks away when I look at her and every time I appear at the camp, it seems that she's sad. It would be terrible if I hurt her in some way, because I have no clue why she behaves like that." Ash explained while he took another piece of wood into his arms.

"Pika Pika ChuChu Pi Pikapi!" The yellow rodent answered with its Pokémon language, but the raven-haired trainer could understand it almost perfectly.

"You think that she's sad about the fact that she lost at the festival? You believe that she could think that she disappoint me?" Ash asked before he received a nod from his starter Pokémon, however, the Kanto native wasn't sure about that.

"I have never been disappointed in her and I hope that she knows that …." Ash explained. "I'll ask her, so that she doesn't need to have a bad conscience."

Aipom swung down from a branch before she heard something. The monkey's curiosity got the best of her and the normal-type dashed through some bushes before she disappeared from Ash's eyesight. It wasn't the first time that Aipom disappeared and at first, Ash didn't care too much. Normally, the monkey should reappear again as soon as they would have something to eat for her.

After some more minutes, Ash finally had enough firewood and the trainer motioned to his Pikachu to follow him back to the camp. On the one hand, he looked forward to the meal, but on the other hand, he wanted to 'help' May with her 'problem.

The yellow rodent turned to his trainer, but suddenly the mouse heard an overexcited Aipom that jumped between the two individuals.

Standing on the hand at the end of her tail, Aipom shouted something and Ash couldn't follow her explanations. Being used to that behavior, Ash sighed before he approached his normal-type again in hope to calm her down.

"Why are you so excited, Aipom?" Ash asked, sounding a bit annoyed. "We need to go back to our camp, so that Brock can cook our lunch …"

It didn't matter, because Aipom was restless and the monkey pointed to a location that would lead the group away from their camp. It didn't seem that she would stop anytime soon, therefore Ash just led her have her fun.

"You can play, Aipom, but Pikachu and I will bring the firewood to Brock and …. HEY!" Ash's explanation was stopped when his monkey stole his hat for the umpteenth time before she ran away with it.

"Aipom!/Pika!" Pikachu and Ash wanted to stop the monkey, but the normal-type already vanished behind some bushes, forcing Ash to put his firewood next to a tree before he started to follow his runaway.

"Always the same with her!" Ash said with an annoyed tone, but he his hat was too important for him.

His yellow rodent dashed through the woods as well and its sensitive ears heard Aipom's moves well enough. Pushing several plants aside, Ash eventually reached a clearing and for the first few seconds, he couldn't see much due to the bright sunlight.

As soon as his eyes adapted to the light, Ash was stunned, because he could swear that some kind of festival was going on her. Dozens of individuals wandered through this location and the raven-haired boy didn't know why.

Nevertheless, he had to look for Aipom.

"Excuse me, please! Could you tell me if you saw an Aipom with a hat?" Ash stopped a passerby and asked for his help.

"An Aipom? I'm sorry, but I would have noticed such a Pokémon, especially one with a hat." The passerby responded before he sighed. "It seems that I need to improve my observation skills if I don't want to go home with nothing."

Ash raised an eyebrow and Pikachu as well.

"Why are so many people here?" Ash asked naively.

The passerby looked weirdly at the clueless trainer, but it shouldn't take much time to explain the event to that boy.

"I assume that you aren't a Kanto native, otherwise you would know that the annual Easter egg hunt will be today." The man said while more individuals looked for a way through the crowd and more and more trainers entered the clearing.

"Actually, I'm a Kanto native …" Ash corrected the man. "However, I don't know anything about this event, to be honest."

"That's a shame, because it's fun and a lot of trainers try to get the reward for this game." The passerby explained further before he looked onto his watch. "Oh … I don't have much time to register anymore! If you want, you can participate as well, but you should know that you need another trainer as your partner!"

With those words, the man vanished within the crowd, leaving Ash behind.

"Uh … did you understand anything?" Ash asked his Pikachu, but the rodent shook his head.

Suddenly, the rodent saw the fleeing Aipom within some trainers and Pikachu immediately sneaked to the normal-type. A few meters behind the monkey, Pikachu jumped towards the Pokémon, but Aipom noticed it in time and jumped to the side. Unfortunately for the monkey, Pikachu at least grabbed Ash's hat, leaving Aipom without a 'hostage' anymore.

"Thank you, Pikachu!" Ash took his hat again before he spotted a huge banner that was hung up between two trees. The banner spotted the slogan **"The annual Easter Pokémon egg hunt" **and that caught Ash's attention almost immediately.

"A Pokémon egg hunt?" Ash wondered aloud before Aipom jumped onto his shoulder once more, however, this time she didn't steal his head, but rather pointed to the banner and now it became clear what the monkey intended.

"Do you want to participate at the hunt?" Ash asked and Aipom nodded quickly.

Another person walked passed Ash before he noticed the two Pokémon on the trainer's shoulders. It seemed like the perfect candidate for the game and the man stopped in front of the trainer. Being almost a foot taller than Ash, the man was corpulent, brown-haired and had a sympathetic smile on his face.

"Your two Pokémon look well-trained." The man noted, catching the attention of Ash.

"Oh … thanks. I'm Ash and that are my partners Pikachu and Aipom." Ash introduced himself and his two Pokémon.

"It's nice to meet you, Ash! I'm Mr. Swanson, but you can call me Carl. I assume that you want to participate at the egg hunt, right?" Carl assumed.

"To be honest, I didn't know anything about this egg hunt, but I would love to compete, just like Aipom and Pikachu." Ash responded, rubbing sheepishly the back of his head before he realized that he wasn't alone in this location.

"The more the merrier is the motto of our egg hunt." Carl revealed. "The assure the safety of our competitors it's important that you compete with another trainer. Of course, you can team up with a friend, but it's also possible to join another random trainer."

Ash knew that he would tell his friends about this.

"That's great, because I have three friends that would compete as well. If you don't mind, I would tell them about the hunt before we register, okay?" Ash said.

"Okay, but you should hurry, so that we won't start without you. The explanation of the rules will start in about fifteen minutes, but I can already reserve four spots for you and your friends." Mr. Swanson warned before he walked towards the registration table.

Again, Ash had this determination within his eyes.

"I'm sure that Brock, Max and May will love the idea of an egg hunt. It could cheer May up after that setback at the festival, but now I need to hurry!" Ash talked with his two Pokémon before he dashed back to the camp, even forgetting to pick up the firewood that he left in the woods. Of course, Aipom was happy that she could play another 'game'.

* * *

May and Max returned to the camp five minutes ago and they waited eagerly for Ash who should have already came back by now. As of now, Brock prepared the pot for the soup and some other utensils for the cooking.

However, Ash already needed unusual long for his task and May started to worry.

"Where's he? It's not like him to stall the cooking of Brock like this." May unintentionally put her hand in front of her heart, hoping that the raven-haired trainer was alright

"He's just five minutes longer away than us, sis. You have been very worried about him as of late." Max said suspiciously.

"What do you expect? He's my best friend after all." May defended her actions.

Brock didn't interrupt this smaller argument.

Suddenly, Ash appeared from the woods and May's eyes almost sparkled in happiness before she looked away again. Once more, her behavior confused Ash and the raven-haired boy hoped mentally that his news could cheer her up.

"There you are, Ash, May already started to worry where you are." Brock said, forcing May to blush again. "If I didn't know it better, I would say that you aren't as hungry as you are used to … - - - Uh … where's the firewood, Ash?"

"Yeah, where's the wood, Ash." Max said as well.

Only now, the boy realized that he forgot the wood, but that wasn't very important right now. They didn't have much time until the announcement for the egg hunt and Ash still needed to inform his friends.

"I collected some wood, but then Aipom ran away with my hat again. She leaded me to a clearing where some event is about to start. It's an annual Easter egg hunt and we need to hurry if we want to participate there." Ash explained quickly while Aipom jumped restless on the ground.

"Easter?" Brock said.

"Egg?" Max continued.

"Hunt?" May completed the name of the event and she became curios, rather than sad.

"Right, but I don't have time to explain everything to you. Come one! We have to go!" Ash said, turning to his side and motioning to his friends to follow him.

"It has to be important when Ash cancels lunch like that." Brock noticed, but he already emptied his pot before he put his utensils back into his backpack. "I think there's no reason to stay here when Ash's so excited."

May was a bit surprised to hear from Ash's experience.

Max was more curious than hungry anyway, therefore he already ran to Ash. Avoiding eye contact; May followed them as well before Brock took his backpack and left their 'former' camp that wasn't really used by them.

* * *

After a quick walk through the woods, Ash and his friends were among many other trainers within the clearing. It surprised some members of them that Ash was right, but at least, it was a happy surprise for most of them.

"You didn't know anything about this event, although you have grown up in Kanto, right?" Max noted.

" …. " Ash didn't answer and he rather looked for Mr. Swanson, so that he could finally register officially for the game. It took him some time, but eventually, he found a table within the crowd and the trainer immediately spotted Carl.

The whole group approached the older man.

"Hi, Mr. Swanson. That here are my friends, May, Max and Brock." Ash said, pointing to his friends.

"Oh Ash, that's great. Did you already decide who teams up with whom?" Carl said, implying that they didn't have much time anymore.

"Team up?" May said curiously.

"That's right, young lady." Carl said. "If you don't know it, you should know that it's Easter time and that we organize a game where two individuals team up to find certain Pokémon eggs. We insist that you have a partner for safety reasons and every team can use up to four Pokémon that can help them."

May, Brock and Max listened carefully.

"Pokémon eggs?" Max said with big eyes.

"You heard right, but it's important that you form two groups now. After that, you'll get all the information during our introduction speech that will be held in a few minutes." Carl still put pressure on Ash's group who needed to decide now.

Before anyone could say something, Brock created groups on his own.

"I think that I'll go with Max and May and Ash could be in the other group." Brock suggested and May blushed again.

"I don't have any Pokémon, Brock." Max explained, but the breeder didn't see the problem with that.

"That's not a problem, Max. We'll just use my Pokémon for the hunt and perhaps, May could rent you a Pokémon, just like at the Pokémon orienteering." The breeder responded, mentioning the event that happened before the Grand Festival.

"Then it's you and me, May." Ash smiled at the girl who bit on her lips.

"It seems that you know your groups, right?" Carl said hopefully, sitting on his chair that bent dangerously under his weight.

"The first group will include May and me, Ash." Ash listed the first group, but that wasn't everything that Mr. Swanson needed to know.

"That's okay and now I need the Pokémon that you'll use for your hunt. You can use four or less." Carl wrote the names of the two teens down onto his block.

"I'll use Pikachu and Aipom!" Ash announced, looking to the Pokémon on his shoulder. "Which Pokémon do you want to use, May?"

May felt flattered when Ash talked to her, but she knew which Pokémon she would use.

"I think that I'll use Eevee and Beautifly for this one …." May said quickly and Carl added the latest information to his block before he turned to the two other ones.

"My name is Brock and this young boy is Max." Brock said before he thought about the Pokémon that he would use. "We'll use Bonsly, Marshtomp, Forretress and - - - -"

"Could you rent me your Munchlax again, sis?" Max asked his sister.

Without many words, May took Munchlax' Pokéball from her fanny pack and dropped it into Max' palm.

Everything was written down and the four individuals were registered for the egg hunt. Nevertheless, they didn't know much about the event, but this problem should soon be solved. Closing his block, Carl smiled at the four younger people.

"You're registered and the introduction speech will start immediately." Mr. Swanson said, pointing to the location where Ash and his friends would hear the next information.

They walked slowly to the other trainers, although May didn't know whether she should be happy about her partnership with Ash or not.

* * *

Some sort of field glasses appeared from out of a bush, scanning the environment of the vent. At the end of the glasses was Meowth and the cat Pokémon fixed his gaze on Ash and his friends before Jesse pushed him to the side to look through the field glasses herself.

"Those kids again!" Jesse noted before she was scratched by Meowth.

"That'z mine!" The cat said angrily before a small brawl started between Jesse and him. The field glasses fell into the hands of James during their argument and the man looked at the event that reminded him of the Pokémon orienteering, an event that he won.

"That looks nice." James noticed before his trusty Mime Jr. appeared next to him. "Would you be interested to participate at this?"

"Mime Mime Mime!" Mime Jr. exclaimed, loving the idea of another game with its trainer.

"Hey, we aren't here to play with thoze kids!" Meowth announced before he took the field glasses away from James once more. Jesse received some scratches on her face during her fight with their third Team Rocket member.

"Meowth's right on that! Didn't you hear it? That's the annual Pokémon egg hunt and that means that they'll hid several Pokémon eggs with the area. I'm sure that you know the unwritten rule that everything that you find is yours." Jesse said and Meowth liked this rule.

"Perhapz there'll be some rare Pokémon within those eggz!" Meowth said, looking forward to this nice 'hunt'.

**End of chapter!**

* * *

**That's the end of the first chapter! It's obvious that this is an Easter-themed Advanceshipping fic and I hope that I'll have finished it until this year's Easter. It won't be a long story and I hope that you look forward to it, because it'll refresh my writing skills. **

**The next chapter will explain the rules of the egg hunt and how May handles her confusing emotions towards Ash. Perhaps you have noticed something that includes bug-type Pokémon, like Beautifly and Butterfree. **

**Please review (the more the merrier)!**


	2. Chapter 2

**That's chapter 2 and like I said, this story won't be as long as my other stories, because it'll only include one (or maybe 2) day(s). It's nice to hear that the idea is original and I think that Advanceshipping is always a good option for original story ideas. Moreover, it'll be my first story with only one shipping and this should be different.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Rules, Rewards and Romance**

It was difficult to tell how many trainers were around, but it were definitely more than a dozen. Not expecting such a crowd, Ash wondered why he had never heard from this event, although it seemed very popular among young teenagers.

Searching for the perfect spot to listen to the announcement, the group of Ash walked to a free spot that still provided them with some shadow. After all, it was still a hot day and there wasn't a sign that this would change in the near future.

The groups exchanged some opinions before they would hear the news first hand from the organizer of the event.

"I wonder what awaits us …" Ash said quietly, standing next to his team partner, May.

The brown-haired coordinator looked to the raven-haired trainer, but every time when Ash looked to her, she looked away. It was just too embarrassing for her to be caught how she ogled at the boy, although she had done it in the past, but now it was just a different time.

Much more relaxed, Brock and Max made a very good team and the two boys waited eagerly for the start of the annual egg hunt.

"Do you think that we can win a Pokémon egg, Brock?" Max loved the idea of having an own Pokémon egg where he would need to care for.

"I don't know, but we need to look for them after all. It wouldn't surprise me if the winner can keep an egg." The breeder answered casually.

May listened with one ear and the brunette believed that she had to remind her brother again that there was a problem.

"Max, you know that you are too young to be a Pokémon trainer, so why should you need a Pokémon egg?" May said sternly, seeing it as her duty to prevent her brother to have too much hope.

"Who cares? Wouldn't it be such a problem to care for the egg at our gym until I'm old enough to be a trainer?" Max answered.

"Too care for a new hatched Pokémon requires much more than just knowledge from books and I'm sure that mum and dad are too busy to do all the work for you!"

"Speaking of busy! Aren't you busy to stare at Ash?" Max countered, showing that he noticed his sister's behavior.

Being embarrassed, May covered Max' mouth with her palm before she looked carefully to Ash to assure herself that the boy didn't hear anything. Fortunately, the raven-haired trainer looked into another direction and once more, May couldn't suppress her urge to stare at him. It was weird, because she noticed features of his face that she had never recognized before, but at the same time, she loved every new feature that she spotted. Losing track of time, May didn't notice that she prevented her brother to breath and the boy's face soon changed its color.

"Mhmm hmmm hmm …." Max wanted to remove the hand of his sister, but the more he tried the more she covered his mouth.

"May?" Brock said with a concerning tone, but the brunette didn't notice. "MAY?" Again, Brock said the name of the coordinator and this time, she heard the voice of her friend, but she wasn't very surprised.

"Yeah? …" May needed to realize where she was.

"I would prefer if you leave your brother some air in his lungs." Brock explained before he removed the girl's hand away from the boy. Once he could breath again, Max slid down onto the ground before he coughed several times after that "near-death experience".

May stepped some inches to the back before she realized what she did. On the on hand, she had ogled again at Ash and on the other hand, she harmed her brother. At the moment, she did a lot of things that she didn't understand, but she didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm sorry …." May apologized quickly before she wanted to look once again to Ash.

However, when she turned to the boy, she looked directly into his brown eyes this time and the coordinator blushed heavily. Of course, she loved his eyes, but she feared that Ash could 'read' too much within her own eyes.

Within a fragment of a second, May looked to the ground again.

"Are you sure that you're alright, May? If you don't want to compete at the hunt, then I won't force you." Ash cared more for his friends than for his own fun.

"No, it's okay …" May said very quietly.

Ash wasn't so sure about that and the trainer remembered that Pikachu assumed that May could think that she led him down when she lost the Grand Festival. Not believing that, the Kanto trainer would give her the self-confidence back that she had prior the Festival.

Helping Max to his feet, Brock thought about the possibility of a crush that a certain brunette had on a trainer.

This incident wasn't further discussed when the official announcement started.

In front of the crowd was a wooden stage with a small lectern and above it was the banner with the event's name. It wasn't much, but it was more than suitable for an outdoor event like an Easter egg hunt.

With the continuing conversation among the crowd, the organizer of the event entered the stage. Wearing a Hawaii shirt and black sunglasses, the individual was a bit more corpulent than a normal person, but his brown hair and big smile made him very sympathetic.

It didn't take Ash a second look to recognize him as Scott.

"I didn't know that Scott organizes smaller events, too." Ash said amazed.

"It's difficult to believe that he still has time to organize something like that. You should assume that the battle factories would require so much responsibility that he couldn't think about other projects." Brock was amazed as well, but he was still positively surprised that the nice man put so much effort into events that entertained trainers and coordinators.

Max stayed silent, although his enthusiasm doubled.

Aipom became restless on Ash's shoulder and the small monkey didn't know what she should do with all her happiness. Only with minor success, Pikachu tried to calm his fellow Pokémon down and the rodent hoped that the normal-type wouldn't ran away as soon as the hunt would start.

Back on the stage, Scott looked into the faces of the enthusiastic trainer and coordinator until he spotted the familiar faces of Ash and his friends. Waving quickly to them, Scott cleared his throat before he would start with the announcement and the explanation of the rules.

As soon as he took the microphone from the lectern, the crowd stopped to talk.

"At first, I want to introduce myself! I'm Scott and I want to thank everyone for their strong attendance today. It makes me always happy to see an increase in numbers for our annual egg hunt, but more participants also means more competition. For all the newcomers and visitors from other regions, I'll explain everything and if you have questions after the announcement, I'll be honored to answer you them." Scott finished the introduction.

Some trainers clasped for the polite organizer.

"It's normal that Easter isn't as much celebrated as Christmas, but that shouldn't decrease the fun that we will have today. Normally, children look for colored eggs during Easter, but who told that it couldn't be Pokémon eggs, right? I hope that all of you registered for the competition and that you and your partner know how to find objects." Scott added.

Ash smiled weakly, but he thought that his searches for Aipom helped him much to become a better searcher.

"Let's come to the rules! The field of participants consists of groups of two trainers that are allowed to use up to four Pokémon that can help them with their search. It's not necessary to keep your Pokémon outside of their balls for the whole event, but wouldn't it be unfair to let them miss the fun? Moreover, you aren't allowed to destroy the environment on your search, so it would be nice if you don't burn down the whole forest." Scott received some laughter from that.

Right now, a Nurse Joy entered the stage and it seemed that she carried some kind of giant map. It seemed that she had problems to carry it, but not even a second later, Brock was there and the 'gentleman' helped the beauty with her work.

Max needed to remove his glasses before he rubbed his eyes, because he couldn't believe how fast the breeder got to the stage.

Feeling slightly flattered and surprised, Nurse Joy sweatdropped, but she couldn't deny that she needed some help with that map. Standing on each side of the map, Brock and Nurse Joy unrolled it to show it to the whole audience.

Ash chuckled at Brock, but he noticed that May was very quiet.

"I thank Brock for his help …." Scott already revealed that he new that participant. "I'm sure that you know that, but this here is a map about this location. It's important where you need to search before you start the event and the area doesn't only contain a square meter!"

The Hawaii-shirt-wearing mean approached the map before he went with his forefinger along a certain route.

"As you see, it's a huge area and we remind you that it's very important to trust your partner. Nevertheless, I think it's time to speak about the eggs that you should find and bring back to this starting point. Of course, I'm speaking about Pokémon eggs that we hid within the area and before you assume anything, I'll assure you that we took everything into account. Not a single one of those eggs is at a dangerous location and we made sure that nothing can happen to them. Of course, they are within egg-containers and it's not easy to harm them in any way." Scott knew that it would be irresponsible if the eggs could be damaged.

For the first time since the start, some trainers talked with each other.

Ash couldn't believe that they would be searching for Pokémon eggs, but he couldn't wait for that either. It sounded so interesting and funny that it could cheer everyone up, even May.

"Did you hear that, May?" Ash wanted to cheer her up with his enthusiasm.

"Uh … yeah …" May didn't sound very happy and the girl still looked away from Ash, increasing the fear of the boy that the coordinator was upset about her defeat.

Max clenched both of his fists in front of his chin and the gym-leader-son loved the event even more.

"The next point on our list is the topic of the rewards. What can you win? It's connected with the topic how you can win and it'll allow more than one group to be rewarded. The hunt will start at one o'clock in the afternoon and you'll have eight hours for your search. Of course, that sounds like a lot of time, but don't underestimate the circumstances of the hunt. It's a huge area and you won't get any hints for the location of the eggs. The goal is to find two Pokémon eggs per team and bring them back in time before the event ends. If you are successful at doing so, your team can keep the two eggs." Scott revealed.

The restlessness within the crowed increased and several trainers discussed the topic.

"I'm sure that you're all fair participants, but we need to be careful. Of course, we took into account that someone could try to steal an egg without officially winning it, therefore we locked the egg-container up and you can only open them with a certain password. Nevertheless, we hope for your fairness, because it's about the fun and not the rewards." Scott explained.

Like on a clue, Officer Jenny appeared at the side of the stage and the police officer crossed her arms.

Brock couldn't believe his luck and the breeder thought about the possibility to switch Max for Joy or Jenny.

"There isn't much left to say, but that you can leave your Pokémon that don't participate at the hunt with Officer Jenny. She will make sure that nothing happens to them and after the hunt, you can get them again. There's still some time until the start and I'm available for every kind of question from you that concerns the hunt." Scott officially ended his speech.

Acknowledging Scott's efforts to make it a great event, the crowd applauded the corpulent man.

Meanwhile, Brock and Nurse Joy suspended the map in front of the lectern, so that every trainer could see how large the area was. It seemed that it had many natural borders like mountains or a large see.

Having only eyes for Joy and Jenny, Brock wanted to ask them to join his team, but as soon as he wanted to suggest that to Nurse Joy, he was grabbed by his ear. It seemed that Max knew about his teammate's intention and he wouldn't relinquish his chance to get a Pokémon egg to a woman.

"Don't even think about it, Brock!" Max warned the breeder while he dragged him away from the nurse who winked several times at this weird scene.

Most groups talked about their strategy now, but Ash wanted to meet Scott face to face.

"Come on, May!" Ash exclaimed.

Without any warning, Ash took his teammate by her hand before he started his way towards the stage, not realizing that he was holding hands with a girl. With a face as red as a tomato, May didn't want to be pulled like that, because she was sure that her raven-haired crush didn't know what he was doing.

A few seconds later, Ash and May reached the first row and it didn't take long until Scott noticed them.

"It's great to see my number one battle frontier challenger and his friends at one of my smaller events, although I should have expected it." Scott said with a bright smile.

"Actually, it's a huge coincidence that we are here, but I would never say no to any kind of competition!" Ash replied enthusiastically, although he didn't notice that he still held the hand of his team partner.

"Are you two dating?" Scott asked with a clueless voice, pointing to their hands.

Ash's dense mind prevented him to see the connection between holding hands and dating, but May knew enough about it for the two of them. Removing her hand from that position, the brunette turned her red face away from the two before she would clarify the situation.

"We're just friends ….!" May clarified.

" …. and teammates!" Ash said proudly, putting an arm around May's shoulder and the coordinator couldn't help, but to blush even more.

Scott believed it and the organizer looked forward to a nice performance by the great trainer.

Being pulled by his ear, Brock, along with Max, approached the man as well.

"I'm sure that you'll have a lot of fun during the event, but it's always nicer to win something, right?" Scott said with a smile before Aipom jumped from Ash's shoulder onto the one of Scott's. It seemed that the monkey wanted to removed the sunglasses from the man, but Scot was very skilled to keep the normal-type away from the black glasses.

"Your Aipom is full of energy, Ash, but I'm sure that she'll need it." Scott noticed.

"Actually, she's the reason why we're participating in the first place, but the more I learn about this hunt the more I like it." Ash explained.

"We can really keep the Pokémon eggs?" Max blurted out and the young boy had a hopeful look within his eyes.

"If you and your partner find two eggs in time, you can keep them of course." Scott repeated one part of the rules.

Brock waged with his hand to cool down his ear.

"There's something that I would like to know, Scott. It's unlikely that all eggs will be found, so what happens to them that won't be?" Ash asked, showing his concern for the eggs that could be forgotten at the end of the day.

"You don't need to worry, Ash. Before we hid the eggs, we numbered the containers of the eggs and marked them on a map. At the end of the day, we'll look for the eggs that weren't found." Scott explained quickly, showing once more that he thought about everything.

Ash sighed in relieve, because the fate of every egg was important to him.

Through the whole conversation, May was weirdly quiet.

"How can you manage to organize so much?" Ash asked curiously, admiring Scott for his ability to create event after event.

"I'm sure that the life of a trainer can be monotonous at times without much variety. That's the reason why I want to show as many trainers as possible that the everyday life of a trainer can be different and the participation at an event like this can motivate you" Scott explained.

Ash liked the idea of motivation, because May seemed to need it.

"I think it can't harm to have some fun before I challenge Brandon again." Ash said enthusiastically.

"That's the right attitude, Ash." Scott looked to the side and he could see that many trainers already gave some of their Pokémon to Officer Jenny. "I think that you should give your Pokémon that don't participate at the hunt to Officer Jenny now. The event will start in a few minutes and I wish you as much luck as possible."

"Thank you, Scott." Ash and Max thanked the man before their two teams made their way towards the Officer.

* * *

This time there was some kind of microphone at the outside of the bush and of course, it belonged to the infamous trio of Jesse, James and Meowth. After they spied with their eyes, it was time to use their ears and they weren't disappointed with their information.

"It'z getting better and better!" Meowth said, pulling the microphone back into their hideout.

"What did you hear, Meowth?" James asked eagerly, but actually, he only wanted to learn more about the hunt. Unfortunately, the time for the registration was over and the man and his Mime Jr. wouldn't get the chance to participate.

"Like we thought, they hid several Pokémon eggz within the area and it seemz that thiz _Scott_ has a map with the location of them all. It shouldn't be a problem to get it from him, however, that'z not all. All trainerz, including the twerpz, have to give the majority of their Pokémon to that Officer before they can start their hunt." Meowth explained coherently.

"That means that we can get a bunch of Pokémon and dozens of Pokémon eggs, right?" Jesse summarized.

"Exactly!" Meowth confirmed their plan.

It couldn't be better, because only one Officer and one Nurse couldn't prevent them to steal the map for the eggs, as well the Pokéballs of the trainers.

"It seems that this could be the first Easter with a lot of presents for us." Jesse noted, thinking back to her childhood when she didn't got from her parents what she wanted.

Disappearing within the woods again, Team Rocket needed to come up with a plan that would get them the map and the Pokéballs. Of course, they would wait until all teams would be away for their search, but then, they would land the biggest coup of their career.

* * *

Now it was Ash's turn to give Officer Jenny his Pokémon and the raven-haired trainer knew that most of his Pokémon would have loved to compete at this event as well, but unfortunately, he could only use two of them. Aipom deserved a spot after she found this whole event and Pikachu was always within Ash's team, making his choices rather clear.

"Here, Officer Jenny." Ash gave the woman his four Pokéballs.

The police officer took them before she put them into some kind of paper bag. After that, she wrote Ash's name onto it, so that there wouldn't be any problems to return the Pokémon to their original trainer after the hunt.

The next in line was May and the brunette gave the officer the Pokéballs of Combusken, Squirtle and Bulbasaur. Eevee and Beautifly would join her group and Munchlax helped the group of her brother, so she could only leave three of her Pokémon here.

Max, of course, didn't need to give the officer his Pokémon.

Brock used all of his Pokémon, so they were cleared to compete. Unfortunately, this didn't prevent Brock to approach the officer before he took her hands. It followed the usual declaration of love, but like always, Max pulled him away in time.

Ash chuckled.

"It seems that you're ready for the hunt, but I have to remind you that you aren't allowed to take any Pokémon eggs that you haven't won. Moreover, we hope that you show sportsmanship towards other participants and that means that you shouldn't hinder other groups or take their eggs away." Officer Jenny fulfilled her duties.

"Okay, officer." Ash assured her that they wouldn't ruin the fun for the other participants.

"The hunt will soon start and you should wait over there with the other trainers." Jenny sent Ash and his friends to a start line. It had been a quick decision to compete at the event, but it looked like a great event from the start.

Soon, they were within the crowd again and Ash and Max couldn't wait for the hunt to start finally.

Like her trainer, Aipom couldn't stay still, but the monkey then noticed their team partner, May. She didn't look as happy as she should be and Aipom tilted his head at the girl, because it wouldn't be very funny if one teammate didn't put her whole heart into the hunt.

Staring at the coordinator for a few seconds, Aipom came up with a funny solution for the problem and the monkey grabbed Ash's hat with the hand and the end of its tail before she jumped onto May's shoulder. It happened very fast and before Ash realized what happened, his hat was placed onto the head of May.

"Aipom!" Ash exclaimed and he immediately tried to take his hat back.

Unfortunately, his monkey managed to keep Ash's hands away from the hat and even Pikachu couldn't snatch it away. After May had been quiet for the last few minutes, she was completely overstrained with all the individuals that fought on and in front of her.

"Could you stop with that, please?" May shouted angrily, receiving some glances from other participants, but they weren't from duration.

Ash and Pikachu were a bit surprised to hear May like that, especially after she had been so quiet.

Max and Brock chuckled a bit at this scene, but they were immediately silent as soon as May glared at them.

Unlike the others, Aipom was quite happy about the reaction of the brunette and once more, the monkey placed Ash's hat onto the head of the coordinator. It was a mystery to Ash why Aipom did this, but it started to become annoying.

"It seems that Aipom wants that May wears that hat." Brock noted.

"Is that right, Aipom?" Ash asked, wanting to assure himself. Receiving a nod from the monkey, there wasn't much that Ash could do and the raven-haired trainer sighed at the behavior of his newest Pokémon.

May didn't know why Aipom wanted that, but she knew that she wasn't so depressed right now. It was silly to believe that it was because of the hat, but apparently, it made Aipom happy to see the coordinator with that utensil.

Thinking about it a bit more, May didn't believe that Aipom knew something about her feelings towards her trainer, but Pokémon were clever. Sometimes it needed a Pokémon to solve problems and perhaps it was Aipom this time.

"You … " May said sheepishly, blushing again when she talked with the raven-haired trainer. "You could wear my bandana during the hunt if you want. It's maybe not as good as your hat, but it seems fair after all."

"Your bandana?" Ash asked a bit shockingly, but there was also a slight tint of red on his cheeks.

**End of chapter!**

* * *

**That's the second chapter of this EASTER special and I hope that you like it so far. Like usual, I try to create a certain Anime feeling in my chapters, so that you could imagine it as part of the actual TV-show. It's a special and that means that it concentrates on a certain theme. **

**I hope that you understood the rules of the hunt and what the reward could be. If you have questions, don't be shy and leave a review and I'll send you a message with the explanation. **

**Aipom is quite a cool Pokémon and it's a nice Advanceshipping supporter, at least for this story. **

**It would be nice if you review on my other stories as well, including Max' Birthday Wish and Time can't heal every pain. It's always easier to write chapters when you see the support of the readers and of course, I don't mind reviews on older chapters. **

**Please review (the more the merrier)!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm aware that only a few readers recognize the beauty of this story, but I'll forgive those other users and it's much more interesting to imagine this story as part f the Anime. Once more I have to note, if you don't like the story, the shippings and/or both, please stop to follow the story and don't leave a stupid comment.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Not everyone's looking for the same**

On the one hand, it wasn't unusual that May carried or watched over Ash's hat, but on the other hand, Ash had never wore a bandana, let alone the one of May. Unfortunately, the raven-haired trainer needed to give May some kind of answer, because it became obvious that he struggled with his thoughts.

"Uh …" Ash didn't know what to say.

"Oh, …. stupid idea, right?" May said with a disappointed voice, but she yelled mentally at herself within her mind for coming up with such a stupid idea. Of course, her bandana wasn't equal to Ash's hat, at least in her opinion.

"No-no-no! It's not a stupid idea, May! It's just surprising to think about it, because I'm used to see your bandana on your head." Ash explained, not wanting that May would feel bad.

Brock couldn't remember that he had ever seen Ash like that, because the Kanto-trainer seemed rather nervous around the brunette, especially when she suggested to swap their bandana and his hat. It wasn't Brock-style, but Ash had his first embarrassing moment while talking with an individual from the other gender.

"Actually …." May smiled again. " … I think that you wouldn't look that bad with a bandana, mister Pokémon master."

"Well, it seems that Aipom insists that you wear my hat …. " Ash looked to his monkey that still sat on May's shoulder to make sure that her trainer wouldn't take the cap away from the girl. "Maybe it'll give us some luck for our hunt."

"Is that a yes?" May asked carefully.

"Yeah …." Ash replied unsurely, because there was one problem though. " …. however, I don't know how to wrap a bandana around my head."

Giggling, May knew that Ash wasn't the best when it came to clothing, because his mother still needed to remind him to change his underwear after all. On the other hand, it wasn't that easy to wrap a bandana around your head, so she could understand Ash's inability to do that on his own.

Removing Ash's hat for a short moment from May's head, Aipom had again this smile on her face that indicated that everything followed her plan. After she unwrapped her red bandana from her head, May looked thoughtfully at the cloth that had been part of her since the start of her journey.

The monkey then put the trainer-hat onto May's hair before the brunette walked to Ash, but she still pretended to look at her bandana though. It became quite embarrassing for her to walk that close to Ash, because she still fought with her feelings that she felt towards him.

Max didn't look very happy, because he would love to wear Ash's hat, but now his sister was allowed to have it during the hunt. It was a simple case of jealousy, although Max knew that Ash and May were best friends anyway.

There wasn't much to say about Pikachu, because the rodent didn't see a reason why the two teenagers shouldn't swap items for fun. As long as Ash would still be the trainer of him, Pikachu wouldn't mind anything about this situation.

Ash was quite confused when May started to circle around him before she stood behind him.

Blushing heavily, May put her bandana on her fanny pack before she lifted her hands to touch Ash's hair. Of course, she was embarrassed and shy, but she couldn't deny that it made her some kind of happy to help Ash with that task.

"Uh … May, what are you doing?" Ash asked with a shocked impression when May caressed his hair.

"I-I ….. I just need to straighten your hair, so ….. Uh … that my bandana looks good on you … " May replied, being surprised about her own actions right now.

"Oh, …. Okay …" Ash replied quietly, although he liked it somehow when May caressed his hair like that. It was embarrassing for him as well though, because his mum had been the last person that 'worked' on his hair when he was still at home.

May's hands went through Ash's hair and she couldn't believe that it felt so soft, although it always looked that messy. Normally, Ash didn't put much effort into his hairdo, because he was a typical boy and boys didn't care much about such things unlike girls.

"It's perfect … " May said without thinking.

"Did you say something, May?" Ash said without turning around. Strangely enough, May spent much time with caressing the raven-colored hair from the boy and slowly but surely it became suspicious.

Startled, May realized that she couldn't restrain her curiosity before she blushed again.

"Oh, sorry …. I'm just used to do that with some female friends at my hometown …" May apologized before she went with her hands through Ash's hair for the last time. After that, she went with her hands over Ash's shoulders that fortunately, didn't result in a reaction from the Kanto native, at least she thought that it didn't cause a reaction.

Ash's eyes widened when May's fingers touched his skin and somehow his face became even redder.

Max looked rather disgusted at this scene, because his best friend and his sister shouldn't act like that.

Brock didn't see that, because the Pewter city native concentrated on some female participants that didn't stand far away from them. It would have been very obvious for the oldest of the group that there was something between the two lead characters of their team.

Tilting his head, Pikachu looked with a clueless expression at the red face of his trainer.

Seemingly, Aipom knew what was going on and the normal-type held his handless-arm in front of her face to suppress her giggles. It became more and more obvious that the monkey tried to help with May with her feelings, although the brunette didn't know about it.

Smiling, May took her bandana before she wrapped it around the head of the trainer. After just a few seconds, Ash wore the cloth on his head and he couldn't deny that May was an expert when it came to bandanas.

Touching the bandana, Ash assured himself that the cloth wouldn't drop down from his head.

"Thank you, May." Ash turned around and thanked his friend.

"Oh, I'm the one who has to be thankful …. "May said sheepishly before she realized that it was quite ambiguous. " …. for your hat; I mean for your hat!"

The coordinator waved hectically with her arms, trying to deny that she enjoyed to be that close to Ash.

"You should thank Aipom, because she's so stubborn." Ash said, chuckling at the girl.

Sighing in relieve, the brunette smiled at the boy and she thought that it had been quite romantic, at least some sort of romantic. When May adjusted Ash's hat on her hair, she noticed that her heartbeat was very fast and that she was restless.

"You didn't need to be so dramatic, sis." Max explained, thinking that his sister needed too much time for this small task. Actually, the glasses-wearing boy expected that his sibling would hit him on his head, but strangely enough, the brunette seemed to be in deep thought and she had such a 'creepy' smile on her face.

Suddenly, Officer Jenny walked to the front of the group and it seemed that the hunt would stay at any second. Most participants already looked in that direction where they wanted to start their search, something that Ash and his friends didn't even think about.

As of now, there weren't many Pokémon among them, but it would have become too crowded with all of them though. It was the best to wait until the start before they would call their partners for the hunt that could take up to eight hours after all.

Looking at the competitors, Jenny assumed that everyone was ready.

Of course, Brock only had eyes for her, but Max knew how to make sure that his team partner wouldn't ruin their chances. Nevertheless, their group forgot to clarify one thing.

"Do you want to search together with us?" Ash asked Max, not being sure.

"I wouldn't mind, but I think that my sis would take all the eggs away that I find." Max said, because he knew that his sister thought that he wasn't the right person to care for an egg. "We shouldn't disrespect the rules, so we should look for the egg-containers without the help of other groups."

May crossed her arms and glared at her brother, but suddenly, she realized that she would be alone with Ash then. It didn't matter that their Pokémon would be with them, because it would be nevertheless, just her and her raven-haired crush.

Waving to the Officer, Brock wanted to catch her attention.

After she looked onto her watch, she knew that it was one o'clock, which means that the hunt needed to start.

"It's time for the hunt, but I need to remind you that you shouldn't risk too much. If someone of your group is hurt or injured, please come back and we'll send a group to your partner." Jenny explained before she lifted her arm and a whistle**. **Lowering down her arm, she used the whistleto show that the hunt officially started with a very loud whistle.

The hunt was on and the crowd started to move.

The first groups entered the area and after a few seconds, some of them already looked through the woods for the eggs, although it was unlikely that the eggs were hidden that close to the start though.

Max needed to pull Brock on his ear, so that he would get him away from the Officer before his group entered the forest as well.

"Come on, May! We don't have any time to waste!" Ash said loudly.

May nodded quickly before she followed the boy to the area. Actually, Aipom leaded their group, because the monkey was the most restless individual of their team and she looked to every side, waiting for the perfect time to start the search.

It only took thirty seconds before every group was out of eyeshot for the Officer, but that didn't mean that she could enjoy her free time. There would be enough tasks that she needed to do, including watching the Pokéballs of the trainers, waiting for possible emergencies and preventing trainers to break the rules.

Nevertheless, the official Pokémon egg-hunt had started.

* * *

Loving enthusiastic trainers, Scott walked to the registration to see how it looked like. According to the results of previous years, the first group wouldn't return within an hour, so the Hawaii-shirt wearing man needed to spend his time with something.

After he greeted Nurse Joy, Scott sat down to look at the number of trainers that competed this year.

Apparently, twenty-eight trainers and coordinators registered for the hunt, which meant that fourteen groups were looking for the rewards right now. It was almost silent when he looked into the sky to see how the weather would be.

There weren't many clouds, so it seemed likely that the hunt wouldn't be ruined with rain.

Right next on his table was the list with the locations of the eggs.

Unfortunately, Scott didn't notice that a certain trio already created a plan to use the map for their own intentions, especially evil intentions that would bring them a lot of money and respect from their boss of course.

* * *

The sun was still high above the horizon and there was still enough time to find the necessary amount of eggs that were needed to win them. It seemed that the whole location consisted of forest, water and mountain, but no streets or houses. On the other hand, it was great, because no one else could find the eggs instead of the participants, but on the other hand, it made it quite difficult to remember where you searched already.

The woods still looked green and normal as if it wasn't changed by humans.

Swinging along the branches, Aipom moved quickly through the forest and his teammates had some problems to keep up with him.

Ash, May and Pikachu didn't have a chance to look for the eggs as long as Aipom wouldn't stop for a second. Moreover, May hadn't called her Pokémon as of yet and Beautifly could be very helpful within a forest like that.

"Aipom! Could you please slow down? We need to start with the search!" Ash said hectically.

Hanging with her tail on a branch, Aipom looked to her trainer before she eventually dropped to the ground. The first target was a bush and the monkey didn't waste a chance to look for the potential hideout of an egg container.

Ash rested his arms on his legs, panting slightly after the fast start.

Leaving Ash's shoulder, Pikachu started to use his nose for the hunt, but unfortunately, Pokémon eggs within containers didn't smell that strong, so it was up to their eyes to find the precious rewards.

The brown-haired coordinator needed a short break as well and she couldn't believe that Aipom had so much stamina.

"Aipom can't wait to find an egg, right?" May said.

"It was her wish anyway to participate, so it would be weird if she isn't the most motivated one of us." Ash replied friendly before he stood up again. Unlike his monkey, Ash would try to use a strategy to find an egg, although it was easier said than done.

"Do you mind when I call Eevee and Beautifly?" May asked carefully.

"Why should I mind, May? There's a reason that we registered them as well for the hunt and like always, the more the merrier, right?" Ash said with a bright smile.

"Oh, yeah, right … " May answered quietly. Of course, it was a stupid question, but Ash's opinion was more important than her own at the moment.

Taking her Pokéballs, May released the brown fox, Eevee, and her butterfly-Pokémon, Beautifly, from their balls. However, both Pokémon still needed to know what they needed to do, but fortunately, Pikachu explained quickly everything to them.

After Pikachu was finished, Eevee's eyes started to glimmer and the normal-type loved the idea of an egg hunt, especially after she had competed with May at the Pokémon Orienteering a few weeks ago.

As long as she could be within the nature, Beautifly liked this idea as well and the bug-type already looked for the eggs. Apparently, all Pokémon were quite happy about this event and Ash hoped that May would love it as well, although she loved someone else right now.

Smiling, May looked at Ash and her bandana on his head.

"Is something?" Ash had noticed May's gaze.

"No, everything's alright, Ash." May said as an excuse. "It's just that I don't know how to start with the search, because we can't possibly look through every single bush and behind every single rock."

"You're right, but I'm sure that Scott wouldn't hide an egg without leaving some sort of hint." Ash replied confidently before he looked to the north. It was more likely to find an egg at the end of the location than at the start, so it shouldn't harm to walk some time.

Aipom jumped across the branches of the trees, Beautifly flew beneath the trees, Pikachu and Eevee ran side to side along the way and Ash and May walked slowly. As of now, there hadn't been an obvious hideout for an egg, but you wouldn't hide anything if you wanted that someone should find it early.

Unfortunately, every second look of May landed on Ash.

Several minutes passed before their group reached a new location. There hadn't been anything, but bushes, wood, trees, flowers and ground so far and it surprised them that they hadn't seen someone of another team.

"Did you find anything, Aipom?" Ash asked loudly, but the monkey shrugged and shook its head.

Pikachu, Beautifly and Eevee weren't more successful on their quest.

"What's with you, May?" Ash asked, but May shrugged as well.

Sighing, Ash knew that he shouldn't expect that they would find one of those eggs within a few minutes, but it shouldn't be bad to find at least one promising hideout. Thinking about his next step, Ash heard the splashing of water.

"Do you hear that, May?" Ash asked.

May lifted her head before she heard the splashing noises as well.

"Apparently, there's a river near to us." Ash said before he motioned to May to follow him to the noises. All of their Pokémon followed as well and they needed to walk through various bushes until they reached a larger clearing.

After their eyes had adapted to the light, May and Ash saw a smaller river that went through this forest, but it wasn't that huge. Nevertheless, it was nice to see an orientation pint for their search and the two trainers and their Pokémon stepped to the water.

"At least, we're still within the area." Ash chuckled.

Eevee and Pikachu used this chance to drink something and the duo stood next to each other before they took several nips from the clear water. Unlike the others, Aipom used its momentum to swing from the one side of the river to the other side. A second later and the monkey sat on a branch of a tree on the other side of the river.

Ash wanted to stop his Pokémon, but the restless monkey didn't even try to listen to him.

The brunette walked to the river as well and she smiled at the rodent and her fox for being so happy around each other. It seemed that she could learn a lot from them, at least about having a great time together.

Looking to the right and then to the left, Ash noticed that there wasn't a bridge for miles around.

"Hey, Aipom! Could you come back, please? Unlike, you we can't jump over the trees to reach the other side." Ash shouted, because they would need to look for another way.

Unfortunately, Aipom didn't want to go back, because the other side of the location was much more exciting than Ash's side at the moment.

Ash motioned to his Pokémon that they couldn't use that way.

"Beautifly, could you convince Aipom to come back?" May said to her bug-type and the butterfly immediately flew above the river towards the monkey. Talking with her, Beautifly tried to convince Aipom to accept Ash's decision, however, Aipom giggled before she jumped some feet more into the woods.

"Maybe we should go without her, so that she comes back on her own." Ash suggested.

May thought about the idea, but she knew that they were a team and that meant that they needed to look for every teammate. Actually, the river was just eight feet wide, which meant that it wasn't impossible to jump across it.

"Do you think that we could jump across it, Ash?" May asked, tilting her head.

Ash looked at the distance and he didn't know if it was possible for them. On the other hand, however, the egg hunt was an adventure and that meant that they needed to take some risks and a small river shouldn't stop them on their way to the eggs.

"Maybe …" Ash replied, resting his head on his hand.

Before they decided, Pikachu motioned to his trainer that he and Eevee would do it first. Of course, the river wasn't very fast, but nobody wanted to take a bath right now, especially the trainers with their clothes.

"Are you sure?" Ash asked.

Pikachu gave him a paw-up before he and Eevee went several feet away from the river. Standing shoulder on shoulder, both of them wanted prove to each other that there wasn't anything easier than to jump across this small river. Apparently, they were very competitive, but they hoped that both of them would make it without problems.

Aipom and Beautifly watched the scene and they wondered what the rest of their group planned.

Suddenly, the two Pokémon started to run and a few feet in front of the river, they started to use Quick Attack before they jumped. Actually, it looked very easy for the two of them and both Pokémon reached the other side without a problem.

"Congratulations to them." Ash said.

Smiling at each other, Pikachu and Eevee were happy for each other.

"It's me then, right?" Ash said, knowing that a human needed to beat the distance now.

May was quite surprised, but she knew that Ash was the more athletic one of them, not just because he was a boy. Nevertheless, Ash needed to carry the weight of his backpack as well and at the moment, nobody of them thought about the possibility to throw the backpack across the river.

Warming up, Ash knew that he shouldn't disappoint his Pokémon with a poor performance.

Pikachu, Eevee, Aipom and Beautifly on the other side of the river cheered for the raven-haired trainer.

"You have quite the fan club, Ash." May giggled playfully, although she could admit that she was part of that fan club as well. Cheering for him, too, May slowly but surely, liked this game, especially without Max that annoyed her.

Ash rubbed sheepishly the back of his head before he remembered the bandana.

"Don't worry, May. I won't risk that your bandana becomes wet." Ash promised her before he started to run.

It wasn't that dangerous, but May nevertheless prayed that the raven-haired trainer wouldn't land awkwardly. Like Pikachu and Eevee, Ash started to leap as late as possible before he flew through the air and it seemed that everything was alright.

Landing on the other side, Ash had to admit that he was good. Enjoying the cheers from the Pokémon, Ash waited for May to jump across the water as well.

"It's your turn, May." Ash shouted with a motivating voice. Standing right next to the water, the Kanto native was confident that May would manage it as well without many problems.

The brunette gave him a thumbs-up before she took her place in front of the river.

Running, May approached the river, but unfortunately, a small breeze hit her hat and the brunette wouldn't forgive herself if she lost Ash's hat to the river. Holding onto the hat, the coordinator didn't concentrate enough on her upcoming breeze, so that she didn't jump with all of her strength.

Ash crunched with his teeth, because he knew that girls didn't like wet hair at all.

Only her toes hit the other side of the location and the brunette lost her balance.

Actually, it didn't look that bad, because Ash was close enough to give her a helping hand. Smiling at her, the boy waited that the brunette would take his hand, but May looked at his smile and hand before she blushed at the thought of 'holding hands'.

Ash was quite confused why she didn't reach for his hand, but he didn't have much time to ask questions.

Slipping completely off the edge, May knew that it was her own fault that she would take a bath right now. Like always, it was one of the moments that seemed like an eternity and she just waited for the splash. In preparation for her dive into the water, May closed her eyes before she would need to swim a bit.

The splash came, but only the noise and not the water.

Moreover, she 'laid' in a weird and horizontally position. It happened very fast and the noise soon vanished until she only heard the calls of their Pokémon and the wind. Actually, May couldn't explain what happened, but she just needed to open her eyes to see it.

"The river isn't as deep as we thought." Ash said with a short chuckle.

May opened her eyes and she looked up into Ash's face. Confused, the brunette didn't know what happened before she looked to the side. Apparently, she was only a few inches about the water while Ash was standing in the water.

"It's a bit cold, he-he." Ash noticed, chuckling nervously.

The coordinator only now realized that Ash held her bridal style above the water, saving her from a bath in the cold water. Fortunately, she didn't wrap her arms around his neck, but she had to admit that this was a way more romantic than 'holding hands'. Blushing like crazy, May didn't find the right words, although she knew that she needed to thank Ash for that.

"I didn't forget what you said about a girl's hair." Ash said, smiling.

May blushed even more, because she didn't want that the boy thought that her hair was more important than he was. Moreover, she didn't know that the raven-haired trainer was that strong, because it seemed that he didn't need much strength to carry her.

Pikachu, Eevee, Aipom and Beautifly called for them, because Ash shouldn't catch a cold.

Putting her back onto the ground, Ash knew that it wasn't a disaster that he jumped into the river.

After she stood up, May helped Ash to get out of the water. Right now, it wasn't that embarrassing to hold hands, because it couldn't top the bridal style thing a few seconds ago. Looking at the group, Ash rubbed sheepishly the back of his head, although it wasn't even his fault that he took a bath.

"Sorry, Ash." May wanted to take the blame for this.

"You don't have to be, May." Ash answered, shrugging.

"Thank you then." May lifted her head and was happy that the trainer wasn't mad at her for messing up this easy task.

"Everything for my girl." Ash answered playfully.

**End of chapter!**

* * *

**That's the third chapter, but at first, I need to ask you something. **

**Question: **Do you want to read about Brock and Max' search, too?

**Of course, it isn't an action story, so it's not about great events. Nevertheless, I hope that you're looking forward to the Pokémon eggs that the group can find and I already know which kind of egg, May and Ash should get, considering that they make it in time though. **

**It's a love story, like always, but it'll be more sweet and romantic this time. **

**Please review! (The more the merrier)**


	4. Chapter 4

**In my opinion, it's a very sweet story and I hope that you're looking forward to the course of the event, because it would fit perfectly into the Anime. Like always, I include many Anime-related facts, so it wouldn't harm to have watched most Pokémon episodes. **

**Note: **Nobody, as of yet, has been able to guess correctly what Pokémon eggs Ash and May will find

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Four eyes see more than two**

May looked slightly puzzled to Ash, because the boy called her 'his girl', although they weren't a couple after all. The more time she spent with Ash, the more it confused her, because their whole student-mentor relationship seemed to develop into something else.

"I'm your girl?" May asked carefully.

All of sudden, Ash realized his words and he didn't know why he said them.

May's blue eyes stared at the raven-haired boy, who needed to come up with an explanation.

"I'm sorry, May! I shouldn't have said that …" Ash apologized.

"You don't have to be." May responded sheepishly, looking away from the boy and quoting a sentence from Ash that he said one minute earlier.

Before something could happen, Aipom jumped down from her tree to remind the trainers that they had a quest to fulfill. As hyperactive as ever, the monkey didn't want to waste any time anymore, that's why she climbed already onto the next tree.

"Shall we continue?" Ash asked with a smile.

"Everything else wouldn't be acceptable for Aipom, right?" May responded, although her heartbeat was still slightly increased due to all of the touches and words with Ash.

"Right and I think that my clothes will dry faster when we walk through the woods." Ash answered.

Pikachu and Eevee sat on the ground and the two Pokémon were relieved that their trainers were alright, although they behaved weirdly at times. Nevertheless, the group of six could continue their search for the Pokémon eggs on the other side of the river.

With Aipom as their leader, the group walked through the forest again while looking to every side to find a possible hideout of an egg.

Ash was lost in his thoughts for a few seconds.

_Why did I say my girl … She's my friend, but not my girl … however… someone told me once that May's my girl … who was it? … I can't remember it …_

* * *

"**ACHOO!**"

"Can't you be quiet?" Jesse covered the mouth of James, because the purple-haired man had nothing better to do than to sneeze while his group had been hiding within a bush, only some feet away from the organizer, Scott.

Scott turned his head to the woods and the Hawaii-shirt wearing man wondered who sneezed.

Fortunately, Scott didn't intend to look for the cause and Team Rocket could again look to the map that showed the locations of the Pokémon eggs. Moreover, they intended to get as many Pokéballs of the trainers as possible, but Officer Jenny didn't leave them alone.

"Why can't we just take the map?" Jesse seemed to be inpatient.

"When they zee that we steal the map, they'll immediately start to increaze the security. If we want to get the eggz without any interruption, we will need to let them think that everything's okay." Meowth explained logically.

Out of the blue, one of Jesse's Pokéballs opened and a familiar Pokémon escaped from it.

"Wobbu~ffet!" The psychic Pokémon 'saluted' before Jesse recalled it immediately.

"I think I have an idea!" Meowth said with a smirk.

Jesse and James looked at their third member before the cat explained his plan to them. It wasn't something revolutionizing, but it was Team Rocket style, that's why it 'should' work, at least in their opinion.

Scott read some letters.

"Oh, could someone please help us?" Scott heard a voice that called for help.

When he turned around, he spotted three individuals and at first sight, they seemed to be a family.

James wore a sundress for some odd reason and a yellow wig, pretending to be a woman. In comparison, Jesse wore male clothes and the purple-haired woman pretended to be the husband, although no one knew why they didn't just wear the clothes of their own sex.

Scott was polite and the man left his table to help the couple.

"Can I help you?" Scott asked.

"Fortunately, we found someone who can help us." James said with a high-pitched voice. "My lovely child doesn't feel good and we can't see him suffer."

Scott was slightly confused, but then he looked down and spotted a 'child', apparently a boy.

The boy had brown hair, a brown shirt and an unusual big head, but his facial color looked the weirdest.

"Your son seems to be sick, otherwise I can't explain his blue face. Moreover, he squeezes his eyes, which could mean that he has a headache." Scott looked at the 'kid'. "You're lucky, because we have a Nurse Joy here for the annual egg hunt, but she can also treat minor illnesses from humans."

"That would be too nice." Jesse answered, pretending to be relieved.

"I'll show you the way to her." Scott said politely before he leaded the couple to Nurse Joy who was around the corner.

As soon as they were out of eyeshot, Meowth left the bushes before he approached the table of the 'fat' guy. Unfortunately, he didn't have a camera, therefore he needed to find another way to copy the map of the Pokémon eggs.

Taking a sheet of paper and pencils, the cat started to draw.

Jesse, James and their 'child' were brought to Nurse Joy and the nurse seemed slightly confused, because this couple seemed more than suspicious, especially their child. Nevertheless, after Scott explained the situation, the nurse couldn't say no.

"Let's see what bothers you." Joy said when she kneeled down to the ill child.

"Could you please open your mouth?" Joy asked, holding a small wooden stick to press the tongue of the child down to see eventual swelling.

Unfortunately, the 'child' shook his head.

Jesse and James knew that Wobbuffet couldn't open his mouth without saying his own name loudly.

Meowth still worked on his picture.

"My little darling doesn't like it, because he's afraid of dentists." James explained.

"I'll check his heartbeat first to decrease his nervousness." Joy suggested when she took her stethoscope, but when she put it onto the chest of the kid, the boy opened his mouth, because it was too cold.

"Wobbuffet!" The kid exclaimed.

Scott and Joy looked weirdly at the kid.

"Oh-ho, my son loves to imitate Pokémon … ha-ha …" James said nervously.

Jesse stepped to the side before she looked over her shoulder to see how far Meowth was with his task, but the Pokémon still stood in front of the desk. Apparently, Jesse and James would need to buy more time for the cat of their trio.

"Okay …" Joy became more than confused. "Could you please open your eyes?"

The nurse took a small flashlight to see whether kid suffered from a concussion that could have caused the nausea and blue face color. Suffering from the Brock-syndrome, the Pokémon couldn't follow the instructions.

Suddenly, Joy spotted the 'tail' of the kid and she wanted to see what it was.

"I think he feels better now!" James said when he pulled Wobbuffet away from the nurse.

"Are you sure? The face of your child still looks unnatural and there's something on his back." Joy said with a concerned voice.

Without giving an explanation, the couple took their child before they ran away from Joy and Scott.

When they ran pass the table of Scott, Jesse motioned to Meowth to follow them and apparently, the cat was ready and he put a sheet of paper onto the table before he followed the gang. Seconds later and everything seemed like always.

Scott and Joy were nevertheless confused.

* * *

Max and Brock wandered through one part of the forest, but as of now, they hadn't called any of their usable Pokémon for the hunt. Like Ash and May, they couldn't see another group of the hunt, although it were more than enough.

"Where is one?" Max looked through some bushes, wanting a Pokémon egg.

Brock tried to be more concentrated, because it was senseless to look through every bush of the forest.

After Max pushed a twig to the side, it snapped back and hit the boy on his nose.

"Ouch …" the young boy held his nose, realizing that his impatience wouldn't be rewarded with an egg this time. When he crawled out of the bushes again, Max saw that Brock looked randomly into the space, not being under pressure like Max.

"Did you find a hint, Max …" Brock asked before he noticed Max's 'injury'. "Did you hurt your nose, Max? In that case, we need to go back to Nurse Joy!"

Brock didn't seem very sad about it as long as he could see Joy again.

"That's not necessary! It doesn't even bleed and a weak hit on my nose won't prevent me to win an egg!" Max was determined.

Brock lowered his head, because a visit to Nurse Joy would have been so nice.

"I think it's time that we rely on the help of our Pokémon." Max said casually when he took the Pokéball of his sister.

After he opened it, Munchlax appeared on the screen and the always-hungry Pokémon would need an explanation, because it didn't know anything about this whole event. Of course, it would be senseless to explain it to Munchlax alone when you could explain it to all Pokémon at once.

Brock released Bonsly, Marchtomp and Forretress from their balls and the trio of Pokémon looked curiously around, because Ash and May were missing.

"Listen!" Max kneeled down. "At the moment, we're participating at a Pokémon egg hunt, which means that we need to look for Pokémon eggs that were hidden within this forest. Ash and my sister are a group as well, but Brock and I need to find 2 eggs to win."

The Pokémon listened carefully.

"We still have enough time to find the eggs, but we will need your help for it." Max said.

Bonsly looked with big eyes, but the small Pokémon didn't know much about eggs. On the other hand, it wasn't long ago that Brock's Pokémon was an egg though.

Munchlax just stood there and scratched its belly.

Max smirked.

"The sooner we find the eggs the sooner we can eat something." Max explained, lowering his head so that his glasses reflected the sunlight again in this terrible way.

As soon as Munchlax heard the words 'eat' and 'something', it started to run through the forest.

Unfortunately, Max and Brock couldn't slow Munchlax down, that's why they needed to follow him, although they couldn't watch out for eventual hideouts of eggs. Aiding their trainer, Brock's Pokémon moved through the forest as well.

* * *

A slight breeze went through the forest and May's group didn't have much luck. At first, they thought that it wouldn't be too difficult to find two eggs, let alone one, but after almost an hour of search, it seemed that they needed to befriend the thought that they would end this game without a prize.

Aipom jumped several times angrily onto the ground when a promising hideout didn't reveal an egg.

"Is that just Aipom's ambition or does she want an egg at all costs?" May wondered aloud.

Pikachu, Eevee and Beautifly stomped through the woods as well, but in their eyes, it couldn't be that they wouldn't find an egg in eight hours. It was interesting that Pikachu acted as Eevee's mentor during this adventure, teaching her some things about the environment.

"She's just slightly short-tempered, but at least, she's trying it again and again." Ash said with a smile, indicating something. "You can become angry and sad at times, but you should try to know why you are angry or sad. When you are sad that you didn't reach your goal, you know that it's important to you."

"Uh … do you talk about Aipom or me?" May was slightly confused, because Ash tried to teach her again.

Before Ash could reply, Pikachu turned around after his ears had twitched.

"Pika Pi!"

The rodent waved with his hands towards May.

"Yoo-hoo, Pikachu! I'm here!" Ash said, because he knew that Pika Pi meant his name and not the one of May. "May and I just swapped our headgears and not our names!"

Pikachu sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, but at least, May giggled at the rodent's mistake.

"I think it's cute that he confused us with each other." May kneeled down to the rodent to caress his ear, but apparently, the rodent wanted to tell them something. Due to his sensitive ears, Pikachu had heard something that May and Ash only heard now.

"Do you hear that?" Ash said quietly, but soon, the noise became louder.

Like a lightning, Aipom jumped from branch to branch into direction of the noise. Shortly behind, Beautifly flew along that way as well, so it was naturally that Ash and the others followed as well and the light became brighter again at the end of the forest.

Like always, their eyes needed to adapt to the light, but as soon as they could see the scenario in front of them, May, Ash and their Pokémon couldn't do anything, but to be amazed.

"WOW!"

In front of them was a swarm of different Pokémon that ran across a large open area. Among them were several Arcanines, Ponytas, Rapidashs, Dodrios, and many more of Kanto's Pokémon. It were too many to count and for several moments, our group just stood there and watched.

"Is that still part of our egg hunt?" May said slightly confused.

"I don't think that Scott and the others can control everything, especially the Pokémon that live within this area. However, we are lucky to witness something like that! Come on, Pikachu! Let's catch a new Pokémon!" Ash said with a raised fists.

However, Pikachu sweatdropped.

"What's wrong, pal?" Ash said clueless.

May sighed before she answered. "Did you forget that we left all of our Pokéballs, with the exception of four, with Officer Jenny?"

After Ash realized this, he lowered his head, but like usual, Aipom caught the attention of the group and the purple monkey jumped up and down, pointing to the swarm of Pokémon.

"What did you find?" Ash said friendly, but when he looked to that spot, he made big eyes, because he finally spotted something that he wanted to spot. Unfortunately, it wasn't in such a situation like he wanted it to be.

"May, look! On the back of Rhyhorn!" Ash exclaimed.

When May looked closer to those Pokémon, she noticed a foreign object between the vertebrae of the rock-type. Due to the speed of the ongoing swarm movement, it wasn't easy to recognize it, but the coordinator knew what it was.

"Isn't that an egg container?" May asked unsurely.

"Yeah it is, but it's on his way away!" Ash said nervously. "I'm sure that Scott didn't plan such a hideout for it, but at the moment, it doesn't matter how it got onto Rhyhorns's back. It's more important that we get it before it's damaged somehow and Scott and his workers won't find it again, because it was removed from its located spot."

May understood.

Before the two could react, Aipom jumped onto a Dodrio that ran past them and from its back, she jumped from Pokémon to Pokémon. Unfortunately, she also increased the distance between herself and her other group members.

"Aipom, that's too dangerous!" Ash bit on his tongue.

"Beautifly, follow her and try to support her somehow!" May ordered and her bug-type immediately flew along the swarm.

Aipom eventually reached the back of the Rhyhorn, but she got problems to remove the egg container from the Pokémon.

Of course, May, Ash, Pikachu and Eevee followed them, but unfortunately, they were too slow and soon, they were at the end of the swarm before it disappeared in a cloud of dust. Like the swarm, two members of Ash's group were out of eyeshot.

"No … what are we doing now?" Ash panted heavily, just like May.

" … don't worry too much, Ash … Beautifly is with Aipom and she will find us again from the air." May responded with a comforting voice.

"Thank you, May, but I worry nevertheless. This game isn't that easy anymore." Ash responded.

"Didn't you say that we need to know why we are sad and that we need to know what's important to us, Ash? The longer you wear my bandana the more you start to adopt some habits from me." May clarified.

"At least, you remembered my words …" Ash said with a smile before he looked to the direction where the swarm and their Pokémon had disappeared.

Pikachu and Eevee looked determined as well to find their friends, as well as the egg, again. Just like Ash, Pikachu smiled towards the normal-type and somehow, the small fox felt flattered, although she didn't know why. On the other hand, she was still a child and it would take some time until May's newest Pokémon would understand some parts of life.

Ash took a deep breath before he wanted to continue the search that included two lost Pokémon as well now.

May turned her hat around before she posed. "Let's start this!"

"What are you doing?" Ash seemed confused.

"Wasn't my impersonation of you good?" May asked unsurely.

"I've never done something like that in my life." Ash clarified.

"In my dreams you did … " May said quietly.

"You dreamed about me?" Ash said with a raised eyebrow, but he felt flattered as well that he was seemingly so important to that girl, although it was more important than he thought. Of course, May blushed and she had forgotten that she spoke with Ash about her dreams.

Suddenly, the brown-haired coordinator dashed into the direction of the swarm without answering Ash's question. Wanting an answer, the raven-haired trainer followed her, just like Eevee and Pikachu.

* * *

Flying high above the ground, the all too familiar Meowth balloon moved across the landscape and its three passengers weren't all on the same page. Apparently, everything went right and the trio possessed the map with the egg locations.

"Why did it take you so long to steal the map?" Jesse wanted to know from Meowth.

"It'z not that easy to draw a copy of the map without thumbs!" The cat clarified.

The normal-type then showed the map to his teammates and James noticed that it was the original and not the drawing of Meowth.

"Why did you take the original?" James asked.

"Don't question my methods! I'm still the smartest of the group, that's why I didn't exactly copy the map, but I changed the locations of the eggz, so that this Hawaii guy and his guys can't find the remaining eggs, even if the hunt is over."

"What are we doing about the Pokéballs of the twerps and the other participants?" Jesse said, still not knowing why they didn't steal them immediately.

"Do you really want to risk our golden ticket here?" Meowth waved with the map. "Who cares about the Pokémon of those kids when we can get all the prizes without even competing at the event? This will be the easiest Easter egg hunt ever!"

"My parents never organized an egg hunt for me during my childhood, although I deserved it more than anyone else!" Jesse remembered her childhood. "All those less beautiful children looked for those colored eggs while I was looking for colored stones …"

"I wasn't allowed to participant at an egg hunt, too …" James admitted and Meowth and Jesse were slightly puzzled, because their purple-haired teammate had been one of the richest kids. "I always got a butler who looked for them."

"Mime Mime Jr."

"Wobbu~ffet!"

Floating above the ground, the cat-like balloon approached the targets.

* * *

Ash still followed May and the girl didn't show any sign of slowing down. It was perhaps of her worry about Aipom and Beautifly or maybe because of her revelation to Ash that she had dreamed about him, but one thing was for sure; this hunt was far from over.

May's endurance was amazing to this point.

After a long run, the group eventually reached a lake and for their surprise, several Pokémon from the swarm seemed to be there as well. Drinking, those Pokémon didn't care much for the humans that approached their location.

May finally stopped.

"I didn't know that you have such endurance, May …" Ash panted slightly and apparently, he forgot May's comment about her dream about him.

"Shouldn't the trainer be as fit as his Pokémon?" May replied rhetorically, but she was relieved that the raven-haired boy didn't ask about her dream. "Nevertheless, there are some Pokémon of the swarm, but I can't still see Beautifly …"

"I'm looking for this Rhyhorn, but I only see Dodrios, Rapidashs and Ponytas so far …" Ash explained while his Pikachu used his sensitive nose to find a sign that would lead them to their remaining group members.

Suddenly, the yellow rodent smelt something.

"Pika Pi!"

"Did you find Aipom?" Ash asked and the small yellow mouse nodded quickly before it ran towards a hill.

Of course, Eevee, May and Ash followed him and when they reached the top of the hill, they spotted a larger Pokémon group that had gathered around something. There was a lot of dust, but eventually, Ash recognized it.

"There are Rhyhorns!" Ash exclaimed.

Moreover, Aipom still clang to the back of one of those rock-types and apparently, she had a hard time to keep her balance, because her Rhyhorn started a small fight with another Rhyhorn to clarify who was the more dominant Pokémon of their group.

Beautifly tried desperately to negotiate between them, without much success.

"That isn't good! Aipom and the egg could be hurt due to this fight!" Ash said with a concerned voice and the raven-haired trainer already ran down the hill.

"Wait for me, Ash!" May shouted and the girl already followed him.

The fight between the two rock-types became more intense with the moment.

Once again, they increased the distance between each other to gain some momentum. Causing a stir with their feet, the two Pokémon intended to ran against each other with full speed and that could be fatal for Aipom and the egg that still stuck on Rhyhorn's back.

When they ran towards each other, Ash suddenly jumped between them.

"That's enough!" Ash exclaimed with spread arms.

Actually, that wasn't a good idea, because the two Rhyhorns were already on full speed and in a few seconds they would turn Ash into a much thinner version of himself.

Pikachu saw that and the yellow rodent already turned his tail into an iron version to stop this.

However, someone was faster than him and May tackled Ash to the ground to save him before the two Pokémon collided with each other. Due to the impact, Aipom was catapulted into the air, but fortunately, Beautifly caught her with a string shot.

Just like the monkey, the egg container finally broke away from the Pokémon before it flew through the air.

With May and Ash on the ground and Beautifly occupied with Aipom, it was Eevee's and Pikachu's task to catch the egg. Looking to the flying egg container, Pikachu increased its speed before he jumped into the air to catch it.

Unfortunately, he didn't jump high enough and it seemed that he was lost in the air.

Waving with his arms and legs, the electro-type was suddenly used as a springboard for Eevee and May's Pokémon used this extra momentum to elevate itself higher into the air before she balanced the egg container on top of her back.

With much luck, Eevee landed stylishly, thanks to her contest training, on the ground again.

Pikachu laid flat on its belly, but he sighed in relieve.

Aipom and Beautifly landed on the ground as well, but actually, it was more important what had happened to the two trainers of them. After the two Rhyhorns left, it became weirdly quiet.

With the egg , the Pokémon approached their trainers.

The brunette had still wrapped her arms around the boy, who blushed heavily right now.

May was like paralyzed while she was looking into Ash's eyes from this nearness.

**End of chapter!**

* * *

**Although Easter is over (for quite some time), I was finally able to finish the fourth chapter and I hope that you like it. It's more like an actual episode, that's why there aren't any over the top situations, but you can decide. **

**Pikachu and Eevee's relationship won't be too romantic, because the small normal-type is still very young and it would be far more interesting to see that their relationship will start like the one of their trainers, with a student-mentor relationship. **

**I haven't described the egg, so that you can't assume which kind of Pokémon will be in it. **

**I still haven't found another EASTER themed Advanceshipping story so far and to be honest, that amazes me. Like always, the story would be far more appealing if it was an Anime episode, but let's hope that you have enough fantasy.**

**See you next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I think it surprised some readers that Ash's group already found an egg in the last chapter, because we only reached the fifth chapter by now. Nevertheless, I can promise that this story will have more than ten chapters and that's good. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**Note: **Nobody, as of yet, has been able to guess correctly which Pokémon eggs Ash and May will find

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 5: You win some, you lose some**

May couldn't tell why, but she enjoyed the moment more than she could have expected. Although she had traveled with Ash for so long, there had never been too much physical contact between her and the raven-haired boy.

On the other hand, Ash was slightly confused, because his friend already had tackled him out of this dangerous situation, yet she refused to let him stand up.

"I guess, I owe you something …" Ash cut the silence and he smiled sheepishly, which caused May to blush again.

It started to become a moment with two teens that laid within a grassland on a sunny day. Normally, it could have been quite romantic, but both teens weren't used to such a situation, that's why it became more embarrassing than sweet.

Eevee, Pikachu, Beautifly and Aipom feared that their trainers were hurt.

"Uh … May? Are you alright?" Ash asked carefully.

Like a startled cat, May jumped to her feet before she hid her tomato red face from her friends. Of course, she was happy that she could save her friend, but now she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to control her confusing emotions anymore.

While Ash was sitting on the ground, Pikachu and Eevee approached him to show him the egg container that they saved. Caressing his rodent's head, the Kanto trainer praised him and May's Pokemon for their work.

Immediately, Aipom took the egg container and looked at it from every perspective.

Of course, everyone should celebrate their first found egg, so Ash looked to May again.

"May, don't you want to see what kind of egg we found?" Ash shouted enthusiastically.

The brunette heard Ash's word and although Ash didn't talk about this incident, May wasn't sure what Ash thought about it. Skipping slowly to her group, the coordinator intended to apologize for her tight hug that she gave the boy.

"Sorry for that tackle and … this tight hug." May said sheepishly.

"Why should you be sorry, May? Without that tackle, I would probably be much thinner now." Ash joked. "Moreover, why should you feel sorry for a hug?"

"Well … you know … I'm a girl … you're a boy … I thought …" May stuttered when she tipped her fingertips multiple times together, looking to the ground.

Of course, Ash was too dense to notice May's problem.

"Okay …" Ash tried to see the problem, but perhaps May thought that she didn't deserve to give the raven-haired boy a hug. "I actually enjoyed our hug."

"Really?" May said carefully, but once again, Aipom interrupted their conversation when the monkey tried to remove the top of the egg container. Like always, Aipom's curiosity got the best of her, but Ash already shook his head.

"Aipom! Did you forget that you need a password to open the egg container?" Ash said with a chuckle before he lifted the container off the ground. With Aipom and Pikachu sitting on Ash's shoulders, May caught Eevee who jumped into her arms.

Everybody looked through the transparent sides of the object.

"At least, I can say that it's not an Eevee or a Phanpy egg." Ash said.

May remembered that the egg of her Eevee had been light brown with a significant design, but this egg had another color. Of course, the small fox pressed curiously her nose against the egg container, although she couldn't imagine to have been an egg herself.

"It's orange with a … well … flame-like design …" Ash explained.

"If we don't find a second egg in time, we won't learn what kind of Pokemon is in it." May said quietly.

"You're right." Ash replied quietly as well. "Nevertheless, we only needed two hours to find the first egg and we still have six hours to find a second egg."

"Don't forget that we need to be back at the starting point in time!" May noted.

"I wouldn't forget something like that!" Ash clenched his fist in front of his heart. "At the moment, we should just concentrate on our search and to be honest, I doubt that we'll find another egg within this clearing, at least I can't imagine a good hideout within a grassland like that."

May rolled her eyes, because Ash already forgot about her dream and some other things that happened today.

Once more, it was Aipom's job to motivate her group members and the purple monkey jumped restless on the ground to catch Ash's attention. However, something was louder and caught the attention of almost everyone, even some Pokemon that were dozens of feet away.

It was Ash's stomach.

"Oh … I completely forgot that I skipped our lunch …" Ash held his belly.

"You should have formed a group with Brock in that case …" May said sadly, fearing that she wasn't as useful as Brock. Being more observant right now, the raven-haired trainer noticed May's sad facial expression.

"I think it's better the way it is." Ash said with a smile. "Max and Brock will have a funny time, just like we will have."

May grew a smile, although she knew that Ash's statement didn't mean too much. Nevertheless, May couldn't deny that she was very hungry as well, but she was more prepared than Ash. With six hours time, it should be possible to make Ash happy.

"If it makes you happy, I saved some sandwiches from our breakfast this morning." May said casually.

"Really?" Ash approached May until he was only a few inches away from her.

"I wasn't very hungry this morning." May revealed, but only she knew the reason for it.

"One more reason for us to have a break, right? You won't be able to hold on for more hours without a well-fed stomach." Ash smiled and Eevee and Beautifly nodded, 'forcing' their trainer to have a break.

"It can't harm, I guess." May replied.

Aipom wasn't too excited about the delay, but she understood nevertheless. At first, the group walked to the nearby lake to give the Pokemon a chance to drink something, but it was nicer as well. Taking the sandwiches out of her fanny pack, May gave one to the raven-haired trainer.

Ash put the egg container next to his backpack onto the ground.

* * *

Approximately two miles away from May's group, Max and Brock were still busy with Munchlax and the normal-type still dashed through the woods in hope to find an egg. According to Max, an egg would mean lunch.

Of course, Forretress, Bonsly and Marshtomp weren't really able to catch up with May's Pokemon.

"Max! Wait for a second!" Brock yelled and the younger boy stopped before he looked confused to the breeder. Meanwhile, Munchlax disappeared in the woods, leaving the two trainers in oblivion what would happen next.

"Why do we stop, Brock?" Max said, panting heavily.

"You should know from the incidents between your sister and Munchlax that you can't stop a hungry Pokemon, that's why we need to give him its reward earlier." Brock explained, opening his backpack to reveal the Pokemon food that Munchlax loved more than everything else.

Brock's Pokemon drooled slightly as well when they spotted it.

As soon as the former gym leader opened the box, Max heard noises from the bushes and within a few seconds, Munchlax returned to the trainers. Of course, Max raised an eyebrow at the fact that the Pokemon didn't even need five seconds to come back.

When Munchlax spotted Brock's Pokemon food, he threw something into Max's face before he started to eat.

Max fell to the ground and Brock looked at the object that their team member had found.

"Hey, Max! You won't believe it, but Munchlax brought us an egg container!" Brock explained to the smaller boy who had enough of hits on his nose. Nevertheless, the fact that they found an egg was enough for Max to forget this pain.

"Wow! Really?" The gym leader son took the container away from Brock before looking through the glass at the side of it.

At first sight, Max could only see that the egg had a light green design with some yellow points covering it. Other than that, the young boy couldn't tell what kind of Pokemon would be hatch from it, but Max was still very happy about this.

**For the report: **Max and Brock found a light green egg with yellow points!

"Apparently, it was a great idea to add Munchlax to our team and now - - -"

Brock wanted to point out, but suddenly, he heard how someone yelled from the distance. Unfortunately, it was a female voice and the breeder immediately looked with heart-shaped eyes to that person that ran to them.

"THIEVES! THIEVES!" The girl shouted loudly.

At first, Max didn't really understand what the girl was yelling, but she seemed to be very furious for someone who competes at an event like this. Holding 'his' egg-container within his hands, the boy was puzzled while Munchlax ate more and more.

The girl had straight and middle-long blonde hair that went down to her shoulders and covered her left eye, but it looked rather cute. It was difficult to tell, but it seemed that this girl was between 14 and 16 years old. Wearing a nice summer dress with natural colors, the green-eyed participant glared at Max.

"I looked for eggs, but I found - - -" Brock kneeled on one knee and wanted to continue with his usual proclamation of love, but the girl covered his mouth with her palm before she looked unfriendly to the younger boy.

"Who do you think you are?" She asked sternly.

"Uh … Max Maple …" Max responded.

"I don't know if your parents taught you to cheat during games, but you can bet that I'll notify Officer Jenny about this! This was the last egg that you stole today!"

"Stole?" Max repeated with a puzzled voice before he looked to Munchlax.

Forretress, Bonsly and Marshtomp surrounded Munchlax and stared at the Pokemon, but the always-hungry creature ignored them completely.

"Don't pretend that you know nothing!" The girl said angrily before she took the egg container away from Max.

After Brock could think straight again, the breeder seemed to understand the problem and as the oldest of the group, he would try to clarify this misunderstanding. Before he could even start to talk, Brock was interrupted by a second girl who approached them as well.

Having a similar look, it was possible that the second girl was related to the blonde one somehow, but that didn't prevent Brock to kneel down once more to proclaim his endless love.

"Sara! Did you get it back?" The second girl asked her teammate.

"Of course, sis. You don't think that I would let them get away with such a crime, do you? The Pokemon who stole our egg container brought it to this boy here and I already told him that I would notify the officer about it." Sara said with a determined voice.

June, the second girl, sighed in relieve, but she noticed something nevertheless.

"Hmm … how old are you?" June asked.

"Almost nine …" Max was still puzzled.

"Just like I thought! This boy is too young to be a trainer, which means that his teammate has to own all the Pokemon of their team. Apparently, this guy there …" June pointed to Brock. " … told his Pokemon to steal our egg before he gave it to the boy in an attempt to make us unsure."

"No! No! No!" Brock waved with his hands. "Munchlax isn't my Pokemon!"

"Really? Does that mean that you stole that Pokemon from another trainer as well?" Sara crossed her arms.

"It's a Pokemon from a friend!" Brock explained.

"Does that mean that you rob your own friends?" June said with a shocked voice.

"Uh … what? For Mew's sake no!" Brock didn't have an easy time, but fortunately, there was someone who could catch all the attention at once. Needless to say that Munchlax still ate the Pokemon food out of Brock's backpack.

Suddenly, Bonsly started to 'cry'.

Apparently, June and Sara didn't know "Fake tears" and the small Pokemon could melt everybody's heart with his crying.

"Oh, what's wrong with you?" June kneeled down to the creature before she caressed Bonsly's head.

"Great!" Sara said sarcastically. "Even your own Pokemon has to cry because of your behavior unless it isn't even your Pokemon! I would advise you to follow us voluntarily to Officer Jenny, so that she can disqualify you from the hunt!"

Now it was Forretress and Marshtomp's time to step into the way and the two Pokemon shook their heads.

A huge argument broke out, but Max finally heard enough and the trainer knew that he needed to solve this problem, after all it had been his fault.

"COULD YOU PLEASE CALM DOWN!" Max yelled.

Fortunately, everybody listened to the boy, even Bonsly, and Max could start to explain everything quickly.

"It's a huge misunderstanding! Brock, Munchlax and I aren't thieves, but I have to admit that I made a mistake. At first, Munchlax is the Pokemon of my sister and she borrowed it me for the hunt and the remaining three Pokemon belong to my teammate Brock. I told Munchlax that he would get Pokemon food if he finds an egg, but unfortunately, I didn't explain the rules to him that we aren't allowed to take eggs away from other participants!" Max said quickly.

"If that's the case, why does your teammate stutter as if he was guilty?" Sara said suspiciously.

"He's always like that around pretty girls … *sigh*" Max responded.

Brock lowered his head, because Max needed to address his behavior.

"Nevertheless, it was very mean from your Pokemon, although it doesn't know the rules!" June explained, still caressing Bonsly.

"I know …" Max lowered his head as well before he turned to Munchlax, who still sat in front of Brock's backpack. "Munchlax, I think you should apologize to them!"

The always-hungry-creature fell onto his back before it patted its belly.

Brock immediately dashed to his bag to realize that the Pokemon ate all of the Pokemon food.

"Munchlax ate all of the Pokemon food that I made for the next few days!" Brock lowered his head once more. For some reason, Sara and June giggled, but Max wasn't very happy about this situation at all.

"MUNCHLAX! I told you that you would get Pokemon food as soon as we find our first egg, but you only took an egg away from another group!" Max said desperately.

As soon as Munchlax heard the words food and egg again, the Pokemon dashed into the woods again, only to return five seconds later to place something into Max's hands.

"That's a stone …" Max said with disbelief.

Munchlax waited for his reward.

Once again, Sara and June needed to laugh and apparently, their anger had faded away.

**For the report: **Max and Brock lost one egg. Current eggs in the ownership of Max and Brock "0".

Max threw the stone casually into the woods again and the boy looked with disappointed eyes to the egg container that Sara held in her arms. For a short moment, the boy had believed that there was a real chance to get an own Pokemon egg.

Suddenly, the group heard a strange hum.

Without much surprise, several Beedrills appeared from the woods and everyone knew that those Pokemon wouldn't say 'good morning'. With only four Pokemon at the moment, a fight against twenty Beedrills wouldn't end in favor for the four trainers.

Five seconds later, Brock, Max, Sara and June were on the run.

* * *

Apparently, most of the participants were too busy to look through the woods that nobody looked to the sky where a Meowth balloon floated through the air. Of course, it was Team Rocket and the trio needed to decide where they would look for the first egg container.

"It's more than logical that we should start to look at the top right corner of the location for the first egg!" Jesse explained.

"You should leave the organization to me!" Meowth responded. "Why should we start to look at the point that's farthest away from our current position?"

"You wouldn't start to read a book from the middle!" Jesse said.

"What does that have to do with books?" Meowth asked sternly before a small fight broke out between two members of the Rocket team. Again, Meowth scratched Jesse's face and the red-haired person started to throw the cat away.

Unlike the two, James looked over the edge of their flying object and the man sighed that he couldn't find the eggs like the rest of the participants. Mime Jr. imitated his trainer's behavior.

Suddenly, James spotted two familiar faces.

"Aren't that two of the twerps?" James wondered aloud.

Immediately, Jesse and the cat stopped their fight before they looked to the ground as well where they spotted Max, Brock, two girls and some Pokemon.

"Indeed! That's the oldest and the youngest twerp, but who are the two other girls?" Jesse asked as well.

"Probably two other participants, but this blonde brat holds an egg container!" Meowth noted.

"I just wonder why they're running that fast. It's difficult to find something like that." James said before he looked once again to see what was behind the four individuals. After a few seconds, it became obvious why the kids dashed through the woods.

"Apparently, they have some problems with a group of Beedrills." James said.

"I can't say that they didn't deserve that." Jesse said with a smirk before she heard a louder hum.

When Meowth looked up again, he noticed that a Beedrill was flying exactly towards their balloon and shortly thereafter, it flew through the object to cause a gigantic hole. Of course, the air started to leave the balloon and the bad trio knew what was coming.

Like a rocket, no pun intended, the balloon shot through the air into the distance and Jesse, James, Meowth and Mime Jr. had a difficult time to stay within the balloon at all.

"That's the tenth time that this happened! Why didn't we use tear proof material for our balloon?" Jesse asked quickly.

"For the same reason why you still have this haircut!" Meowth said, clinging to the edge of their balloon. "We don't have enough money for it!"

"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" Team Rocket's slogan never failed to impress.

"Mime Jr.! Mime Jr.!"

"Wobbu~fet!"

* * *

Enjoying the sunny day, May and her group rested near the small lake of this location and unlike this morning, the brunette was able to eat without being distracted by her thoughts. Fortunately, May always had some snacks for Pokemon with her, that's why Beautifly, Aipom, Pikachu and Eevee could eat something as well.

"I don't think that I would have been able to walk much longer without eating something first!" Ash said with a big smile. "Tell me, May, what can I do to return the favor?"

May just bit into her sandwich when she heard Ash's words and for some reason, she thought about several different things that Ash could do for her.

"Uh … well …" May said.

"You know that I can't deny your wishes … unless you want me to wear a dress." Ash joked.

"There's a question that you could answer …" May said sheepishly, looking to the blue lake.

"I would answer all of your questions anyway, no reason to see it as a favor." Ash replied casually, leaning back onto his arms. Of course, he didn't know what his female friend would ask him, otherwise he wouldn't be so calm.

Suddenly, Aipom felt something.

When the monkey turned around to look to Ash's backpack, she realized that something was missing and the purple Pokemon immediately jumped to the bag to search for the object. After she didn't find it, Aipom shouted loudly her name to catch Ash and May's attention.

"What's up, Aipom?" Ash asked worriedly.

Once again, the monkey jumped quickly up and down.

"Do you want to look at the egg again … uh … where's the container, Aipom?" Ash realized that the important object was missing and the raven-haired trainer stood up to look through his things.

Meanwhile, May knew that this wasn't the perfect time to speak with Ash about her feelings.

Ash could skip every stone, but he didn't find the egg container and the trainer started to become worried.

"May, I can't find our egg container anywhere!" Ash exclaimed.

"Didn't you put it next to your bag?" May asked casually.

"Yes, but it's not here anymore!" Ash said.

"Do you think that someone stole it during our break?" May assumed, putting the rest of her snacks into her fanny pack again. "Actually, we should have noticed it if some other trainers approached our position."

"I don't know, but it would be terrible to lose our first egg like that." Ash explained.

Aipom became slightly furious and the monkey would do everything to get back what they found.

Suddenly, Aipom spotted the egg container in the distance and the normal-type glared towards the creature that stole what wasn't his. Once more, Aipom stomped heavily onto the ground to catch the attention of May and Ash.

"Did you find it?" Ash asked before he spotted their egg as well. "May, it's over there!"

The brunette looked into the distance and she spotted their egg, but something was holding it.

Pikachu, Beautifly, Eevee and Aipom saw that it was a Pokemon and unfortunately, it was one that Ash had encountered during his first journey through Kanto.

"It's a Mankey!" Ash clarified.

May wasn't quite sure if she had seen such a Pokemon, but it was never a bad idea to ask her Pokedex for information. Quickly, the coordinator took her device from her fanny pack before she pointed it towards the thief.

"_Mankey, the pig monkey Pokemon of the fighting-type! Known for its superior footwork, it packs a powerful punch. Although Mankey is usually calm, it does have a bad temper. Once Mankey begins to Trash, stopping it is impossible."_

Ash had some sort of Deja-vu when he looked to the Pokemon.

"I totally forgot that many Mankeys live within this area!" Ash remembered, catching the attention of a curious May. "Last time I confronted one, a Mankey stole my hat!"

"How did you get it back?" May asked.

"Well, after it evolved into Primeape, I caught it." Ash explained.

"That's out of question this time, because we don't have any Pokeballs." May stated the obvious.

"It doesn't matter, but if we don't do anything, Mankey will get away with our egg!" Ash said before he followed the thief, just like all his Pokemon. May was slightly surprised that her break ended like that, but she immediately followed Ash.

Aipom leaded her group and the monkey would show the other monkey what would happen with Pokemon that stole her objects.

Mankey skipped casually along the grassland, being happy about his newest object.

However, when he heard his followers, Mankey turned around to spot a furious Aipom that dashed to him with high speed. At the moment, Mankey wasn't mad, that's why it decided to flee into the forest this time and soon, it reached the edge of the woods.

Without knowing, Ash and May went more and more into the north direction and away from the starting point of their hunt.

"Beautifly, use string shot to tie up Mankey's feet!" May ordered.

The butterfly shot it attack towards the ape, but Mankey was too agile and it avoided all string shots that flew into its direction. Apparently, May's idea wouldn't work at all.

When Mankey reached the first tree, it used its tail to swing onto a branch and now, the pig monkey was in its element. Unfortunately for Mankey, there was another monkey and Aipom swung onto the branch as well before she continued her chase.

"That's not our day!" Ash noticed.

Pikachu and Eevee ran side to side, but the two Pokemon couldn't do much. If Pikachu used any electro attack, it could harm the egg as well, that's why he needed to catch up with Mankey.

Looking to the branches, May and Ash didn't notice that they would get a problem.

When Ash looked down again, he noticed that he couldn't go any further and the trainer immediately slowed down with all of his strength.

In front of him was a steep cliff that seemed to be sixty feet high.

"May, - - -" Ash wanted to warn his friend, but the brunette, who still looked to the branches, tackled him from behind, causing the boy to crash face first into the cliff. Due to the impact, May fell onto her butt, however, she realized soon enough that she hurt her crush.

Pikachu and Eevee immediately looked for their trainers.

Mankey instead started to jump from a branch onto the cliff before it climbed up the sixty feet wall and unsurprisingly, Aipom followed him again.

Once again, Aipom and the egg container were out of eye shot.

**End of chapter!**

* * *

**I think it's not only Ash who has a case of Deja-Vu, right? Actually, the next chapter should contain more action, some Pokemon fight scenes, some dangerous situations and maybe even some reunions. Like I said during my last chapters, this story is based on the Anime, which means that it can be quite "boring" at times, but everyone with enough imagination should be able to enjoy the story. **

**The idea of a Mankey and an Aipom is quite original, but let's see how it develops. **

**I described two eggs within this story, but was it enough to guess which kinds of Pokemon are inside of them? **

**Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Let's continue with chapter 6 and this time, I need to increase the pace of the story. After I thought about it again, it could be that there will be some incidents that you wouldn't see within the Anime, but that shouldn't harm the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon **

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Hullabaloo or Monkey Mayhem?**

Ash held his nose after May tackled him into the cliff and Pikachu, Beautifly and Eevee surrounded the trainer to see if he was alright while Aipom was still chasing the fleeing Mankey, which stole the egg container of the group.

"I'm sorry, Ash! … I'm really, really sorry for that!" May said multiple times.

"It's not your fault, May and at least, I had my first real kiss … although it was with a cliff …" Ash rubbed his forehead before he looked up.

"How … how does it come that you think about kisses in such a situation?" May said, slightly shocked.

"Well, somehow it was the first thing that crossed my mind for some reason, but we shouldn't talk about such small things right now!" Ash clarified before he already looked for a way to follow Aipom, Mankey and their egg.

May looked for a short moment to Ash's lips before she turned away, blushing.

However, this time Eevee noticed that and the small fox tilted her head.

"I just can't see an end to the cliff, no matter if I look to the left or right side!" Ash explained before he examined the cliff in front of him.

"Shouldn't I send Beautifly after them, Ash?" May, who broke away from her trance, suggested.

"Actually, Beautifly could help us to get past this cliff." Ash said enthusiastically before he started quickly to climb up the wall in front of him. However, May became worried, because it was a very huge cliff.

"ASH! What are you doing?" May said worriedly.

"I'll quickly climb to the top of the cliff before Beautifly uses her string shot to form some kind of rope with that you can follow me." Ash shouted loudly when he reached a higher point.

"Be careful!" May said very worriedly.

The female coordinator then turned to Beautifly before she whispered to her bug Pokemon. "Beautifly, please make sure that Ash doesn't fall to the ground! I don't know what I would do if something happens to him."

The butterfly understood and soon, she flew exactly behind Ash to assure that the trainer wouldn't risk too much. Apparently, Ash wasn't too surprised to see the bug-type close to him and the raven-haired trainer continued to climb.

Unexpectedly, Ash lost some of his balance and almost fell, but he could find his balance early enough again.

"ASH!" May grabbed her heart and once again, she realized that she felt something more for Ash than just friendship. Nevertheless, she was still confused about it and it would need much more time for her to figure out how to deal with it.

Pikachu and Eevee hoped for the best.

Eventually, Ash reached the top of the cliff and the trainer immediately motioned to Beautifly to use her string shot to create a rope for him that he let down to his friends and Pokemon.

"I'll wrap the string shot around a tree, May! Take Pikachu and Eevee with you okay?" Ash yelled.

"Of course!" May responded after she had sighed in relieve that her friend was okay.

The two Pokemon jumped onto May's shoulders before the brunette started to climb the cliff up as well with the help of the string shot and fortunately, there weren't any incidents until the coordinator reached the top of the cliff as well where Ash already gave her a helping hand.

With a smile on her face, May accepted the help and at least, everyone was on top of the cliff now.

"Let's going!" Ash said after he helped May to her feet.

Due to this short incident, they had lost track of Aipom and Mankey, but fortunately, Pikachu's nose was sensitive enough to find a trace. Funnily, Eevee tried to copy Pikachu's antics, but the small fox wasn't very skilled with her senses.

The group followed Pikachu's sensitive nose, passing several trees again.

After some moments, Ash imagined that he heard an uproar and the trainer took the lead of the group to lead his friends to some kind of clearing. It wasn't the first clearing of the day, but the trainers needed nevertheless to shield their eyes when they entered it.

After they could see something again, our group spotted Aipom and the small purple monkey seemed to be furious.

"Aipom, everything alright?" Ash asked worriedly before he looked to the same spot as his Pokemon.

Pikachu, Aipom, Beautifly and May were amazed when they saw a rare tree within this forest.

"That's a Baobab tree!" Ash explained.

"I didn't expect that …" May murmured, but suddenly, Aipom ran straight to the tree before she climbed it up. Unfortunately, a few seconds later and the monkey was thrown to the ground again, receiving some bruises.

Of course, Ash checked on her.

Pikachu looked sharply to the tree before he noticed the legs of a Mankey. However, it wasn't only one Mankey, but rather two dozens of them and all of them started another uproar again, demanding that Aipom and Co would leave their place.

"It seems that we have a real problem, Ash …" May said worriedly.

Standing in front of a large baobab tree, the group was confronted with a legion of Mankeys, but as of now, Ash hadn't seen the one which stole their egg container.

Unexpectedly, some Mankeys withdrew some branches to reveal a single monkey.

"That's the Mankey with our egg container!" Ash explained and Aipom immediately glared towards the thief.

"I'm not sure …" May said unsurely. " … but apparently, this Mankey is the leader of this group."

"It's likely, but we need to tell them that we need to get this egg container back." Ash explained before he approached the tree. Following his trainer, Pikachu would try to help his trainer with this negotiations.

"Listen, I'm Ash and that are my friends!" Ash pointed to May and the others. "We don't want to challenge you for your tree, but it's very important that you give us that egg container back! It's part of a hunt and every egg needs to be find by a group or needs to be returned to Scott."

"Pika Pika Pikachu ChuChu Pi Chu Kachu Pikapi!" The yellow rodent translated his trainer's statement.

Nevertheless, the 'leader' Mankey just yawned before he motioned something to his 'followers'.

Ash waited for a response.

Suddenly, something was thrown out of the tree and Ash thought that Mankey listened to him, but unfortunately, it wasn't the desired egg container, but a baobab that hit Ash's head.

When Pikachu wanted to check on his trainer, he and Ash were completely covered by hundreds of baobab that were thrown at them. Obviously, the Mankey legion didn't want to return the egg that their 'leader' got.

"Oh no! Ash, are you hurt?" May pulled her friend out of this pile of baobabs.

Eevee looked for Pikachu, but fortunately, nobody was hurt badly.

"I'm fine, May, but these Mankeys don't give us an easy time. I just hope that your bandana didn't get dirty …" Ash said , removing some dust from his clothes.

"Don't worry, Ash. My bandana isn't as important to me as you." May said relieved.

Ash blushed unintentionally, something that surprised May a lot.

Eevee licked a small bruise at Pikachu's cheek to reduce the pain, but the rodent was slightly shocked by this.

Unfortunately, they could hear the laughter from the Mankeys and apparently, the pig monkey Pokemon had a great time. It didn't matter, because Ash's group needed to get the egg back.

It was Beautifly, who notified our friends, that Aipom wasn't very amused by this.

"Aipom, what are you going to do?" Ash asked puzzled.

Quickly, Aipom took one of the baobabs with the hand at her tail before she threw it to the tree. Seemingly, Aipom's precision was great when she hit the boss Mankey with the fruit and the Kanto Pokemon fell backwards off the tree onto the ground.

Of course, the Mankeys had stopped to laugh.

"Well done, Aipom!" May cheered for the monkey.

"I don't think that this wasn't the best idea, May." Ash replied worriedly.

"Why?" May asked curiously.

"Did you forget the entry of Mankey within your Pokedex?" Ash reminded May.

Suddenly, May remembered that she read that Mankeys had a very short temper and that it was nearly impossible to calm them down once they were mad.

Everybody looked to the fallen 'king' of the Mankeys and the chief already stood up again. Unlike before, it wasn't laughing anymore and the monkey had a very aggressive facial expression, which didn't mean any good.

The other Mankeys cheered for their chief.

"Well, it won't bring anything to talk with him now …" Ash explained. "Pikachu, we need to get him out of his rage, although it won't be easy."

Pikachu nodded.

However, Aipom placed herself in front of Pikachu and the purple monkey stared Mankey down.

"Uh … Aipom, do you want to fight?" Ash asked unsurely.

Aipom nodded and jumped on the ground and it seemed that Ash's Pokemon was in a rage as well.

"There's no need to let you wait, Aipom, right?" Ash said rhetorically.

May, Pikachu, Eevee and Beautifly were forced to be part of the audience, but they would cheer for their teammate anyway. Mankey's wrath grew and the Kanto Pokemon would go onto a rampage until its anger would fade.

"We count on you, Aipom!"

* * *

Max, Brock, Sara, June and their Pokemon still ran away from the group of Beedrills, which by the way, seemed to be more aggressive than usual. It were just too many of the insects and even Brock's Pokemon couldn't do anything against them.

"Where are your Pokemon by the way?" Brock said quickly, looking to June and Sara.

" … " Sara thought for a few seconds before she realized it. " … I completely forgot them! I sent them into a forest to look for a second egg, but then, your Pokemon took our egg container away and I followed it!"

"Same here!" June responded.

Unfortunately, Max needed to push Munchlax across the way, because the Pokemon actually wanted to take a nap after all the food. With the Beedrills approaching them, Max knew that it would hurt a lot to stop now.

"Come on, Munchlax! There's no time to rest right now!" Max said sternly.

May's Pokemon wasn't very worried and Munchlax ran unsteadily along the way.

Bonsly, Marshtomp and Forrestress ran behind their trainer to protect him, although Bonsly seemed to try to get passed Brock.

Unfortunately, Max wasn't lucky and the young boy tripped over his own foot before he fell onto the ground. Of course, the Beedrills wouldn't spare him.

"Ouch …" Max turned around to see the insects.

Forrestress noticed the fallen trainer and the steel Pokemon stopped on his way to help the boy, but strangely enough, Munchlax, who ran towards Forrestress, moved its finger back and forth.

Meanwhile, Brock had noticed as well that his teammate wasn't behind him anymore and the breeder stopped to look for Max. Unluckily, the younger boy laid on the ground.

"Marshtomp use … uh?!" Brock wanted to order an attack, but he noticed that Munchlax did something.

Sara, June, Bonsly and everyone stopped as well.

When the Beedrills were only a few feet away from Max, Munchlax's fingertips started to glow and Brock knew that the lax Pokemon used Metronome, although it wasn't clear which kind of attack, Munchlax would use.

Max covered his eyes.

Suddenly, everyone was enveloped in a bright light and when it vanished, Brock's group had disappeared. The Beedrills were confused, but without any target, they decided to stop their chase for the invaders.

Shortly thereafter, all insects were gone.

Apparently, Brock's group would have some problems, no matter where they would be right now.

* * *

The fight between a furious Aipom and an even more furious Mankey would start immediately, although their audience wasn't necessarily quieter. Dozens of Mankeys jumped on the branches of the Baobab tree, supporting their Mankey in Chief with their battle cries.

"We should skip the warm up and start with swift, Aipom!" Ash ordered.

The purple monkey followed the order, jumped into the air and executed a move with her tail before several stars flew towards her opponent, Mankey.

Without a trainer, Mankey could do what it wanted and right now, it wanted to unleash its wrath on the other monkey, that's why Mankey avoided most of the stars and even punched some of them away, shocking Ash and his friends.

"How could it deflect them that easy?" May said shocked.

"It's even more furious than I feared." Ash noted.

Nevertheless, it was Mankey's turn to attack and the Kanto Pokemon used the short confusion of its foe to attack her with some scratches.

The remaining Mankeys cheered.

Aipom tried to block some of the attacks with her tail before she jumped some feet to the back.

Unfortunately, Mankey already approached Aipom again and this time it attempted a low kick. Of course, a fighting attack would cause a lot of damage on the normal-type Aipom, but Ash wouldn't just stand there and look on.

"Aipom, dodge it somehow!" Ash shouted.

However, the purple Pokemon was hit, at least it seemed like that. For some reason, Mankey flew through Aipom with its low kick and the light brown monkey landed awkwardly on its foot, which seemingly caused a little injury.

May and the others were puzzled.

Suddenly, Ash saw that more and more Aipoms appeared on the battlefield.

"Could it be that Aipom is using Double team?" Ash wondered aloud, because it had been the first time that his Pokemon used that move since she was in his team.

May, Beautifly, Eevee and Pikachu tried to see which Aipom was the real one, but they couldn't tell a difference between them. Fortunately, Mankey wasn't able to do that as well and its followers cursed on the tree because of this cheap trick.

Mankey started to scratch Aipom after Aipom, but he wasn't lucky.

"Fight back with a Scratch attack of your own!" Ash yelled.

Immediately, an Aipom approached Mankey from behind before she hit a Scratch attack on the monkey and fortunately, it had an effect on the furious Pokemon.

Pikachu and the other Pokemon cheered.

Mankey humbled some feet before he turned once again around. Apparently, Aipom's successful attack increased his wrath even more. Without taking a short break, Mankey already used its next attack, but this time it wasn't a damage dealing one.

Suddenly, Mankey just stood there and crossed its arms, leaving Aipom and Ash wonder. Moreover, Mankey was enveloped by a red aura and it stared with an intimidating look towards Ash's Pokemon.

"What?" Ash wondered.

May was curious as well and the coordinator took her Pokedex to ask it about the attack.

When she pointed the device at Mankey, she waited eagerly for information.

"_Mankey's swagger is a non-damaging attack. At first, Mankey looks with an intimidating look towards its opponent before it's enveloped in a red light. If successfully, the opponent will become visibly stronger, but it will always be confused."_

After May read it, she turned to Ash.

"Ash, Aipom shouldn't look at Mankey at all right now!" May exclaimed.

"What?" Ash was dumbfound and when he looked to Aipom, he noticed that his Pokemon seemed to be extremely angry right now. Moreover, Aipom's eyes started to glow red.

"Oh no …" May whispered.

"Everything alright, Aipom?" Ash wasn't aware that his Pokemon was confused.

Suddenly, Aipom started to scratch multiple times into the air without aiming for Mankey at all. Now, Mankey approached Aipom again before he used another low kick and this time, it hit head on, throwing Aipom onto her back. However, the purple monkey didn't stay on the ground when she stood up again to attack some air once again.

"Aipom, try to use swift again!" Ash said.

Aipom heard this order and she also executed it, but unfortunately, she shot all stares vertically into the sky, making it completely senseless.

"Ash, Aipom is confused!" May needed to remind her friend.

It took the raven-haired boy some time until he remembered that Mankey's attack looked like Swagger that Misty's Politoed used some time ago. It was rare that a Pokemon used it, but Ash gritted with his teeth.

In his rage, Mankey started to attack again and this time, it hit Aipom with some karate chops.

Unfortunately, these kind of attacks were very effective again and Ash could see , despite Aipom's confusion, that his Pokemon was almost defeated. It became even worse when Mankey grabbed Aipom and jumped with her into the air.

"Aipom, try …" Ash couldn't even give an order.

Mankey threw Ash's Pokemon with a seismic toss onto the ground.

May bit onto her lips, because it seemed that Ash and Aipom would lose this fight.

Mankey landed on the ground again before the monkey waved angrily with his arms in the air. Apparently, the Kanto Pokemon was still angry despite its 'victory' against Aipom.

Aipom laid flat on her back and the group of Mankeys celebrated.

"PIKA/VEE/BEAUTIFLY!"

Trying to motivate Aipom, Pikachu, Eevee and Beautifly shouted for their teammate and it developed into a cheering for the purple monkey. As long as the Pokemon wouldn't lose hope in Aipom, the trainers shouldn't lose it as well.

Unexpectedly, Aipom opened her eyes again before she slowly got up again. Mankey's attacks had hit her hard, but she wouldn't give up; not right now.

"You can do it, Aipom!" May clenched her fists, rooting for the Pokemon of her crush.

"Can you still go?" Ash asked worriedly.

Aipom nodded and it seemed that the purple monkey wasn't confused anymore.

The chief Mankey became angry again and it started to glow in a white light, concentrating.

"That could be Focus Energy." Ash explained. "He'll need some seconds to focus, but we'll use that time as well, Aipom, use Focus punch!"

Both monkeys concentrated.

Aipom's hand on her tail glowed white as well, although she panted heavily after all those fighting attacks that she had received during the fight.

May and the rest of the Pokemon hoped that Aipom would have enough power to go against Mankey one more time.

Eventually, Mankey was finished with Focus energy and the Kanto monkey started to run towards Aipom before it crossed its arms that started to glow.

"This time it's attempting a cross chop!" Ash said loudly.

Fortunately, Aipom was finished with her preparations for Focus punch and she approached her foe as well, clenching the fist at the end of her tail. Running towards each other, the two rivals stared at each other.

Aipom used Focus punch and Mankey used cross chop. Both attacks collided with each other, which meant that the weaker Pokemon would be hit and it was all about strength right now.

"Aipom, hold on!" Ash encouraged his ape.

Mankey pushed with all of his might, but for some reason, Aipom was stronger.

After a long collision, Aipom broke through Mankey's attack before he hit him with Focus punch, sending him flying through the air until it hit the baobab tree. Due to the impact, most Mankeys almost dropped to the ground.

Exhausted, Aipom landed on the ground.

May, Ash, Pikachu and the others ran to her to congratulate her on her win.

"That was fantastic, Aipom!" Ash hugged his Pokemon.

"I guess, Mankey's Swagger increased Aipom's attack so much that she eventually became stronger than him and after the confusion was over, she could use that strength to her advantage ." May said with a smile.

Ash nodded quickly before he turned to the tree again.

Most Mankeys were still in shock that their leader lost this fight.

Walking to the Mankey, Ash hoped that it wouldn't be angry anymore. Shortly thereafter, the raven-haired boy kneeled down to check on Mankey. Shaking its head, the pig monkey Pokemon wanted to stand up again to defend his location.

However, Mankey's right foot was hurt from the match and the pain became too much.

Ash noticed that and the trainer put his backpack onto the ground before he took some utensils out of it.

One minute later and Mankey's ankle was bandaged.

"I'm not Brock, but that should help you for the time being!" Ash said, smiling.

Mankey was quite confused, but the trainer in front of him was right. It didn't hurt very much anymore.

"Do you see?" May said sweetly. "We don't want to harm you, but it's important that you give us our egg container back!"

Having found new respect for Aipom, Mankey glared at her before he approached the purple monkey.

Suddenly, Mankey raised one of Aipom's arms.

The other Mankeys jumped restless on their branches, but it didn't sound like an uproar anymore. It seemed that all Mankeys admitted that Aipom was a worthy opponent.

"Do you know what that means, Ash?" May asked curiously.

Pikachu said something to his trainer.

"Apparently, the Mankeys are impressed by Aipom and now, they want to make her a honorary member of their clam." Ash said casually before he smiled.

Beautifly, Eevee and Pikachu cheered s well for Aipom.

Like usual, Aipom was happy to be the centre of attention. Shortly thereafter, another Mankey climbed down the tree and returned the egg container to Aipom with the approval of the chief Mankey. In the end, all Mankeys cheered.

"Isn't it nice to see a new friendship, May?" Ash said rhetorically.

May nodded.

Mankey and Aipom gave each other a handshake to seal their new friendship.

* * *

The rest of a balloon hang at the side of a mountain. Obviously, this balloon wouldn't be able to fly through the air anymore with a hole as big as a Meowth. Strangely enough, there weren't any passengers within it, but you didn't need to go very far to find them again.

Twenty feet deeper, but still hundred feet above the ground, Team Rocket clang to a branch that stood out and the trio still argued about their misfortune.

"Next time, you should put anti insect spray on our balloon, Meowth!" Jesse said furiously.

"Can't you just shut up? Would you use your scary face to creep them away, we wouldn't need to waste our money on that!" Meowth countered harshly.

Of course, a small fight broke out.

James could save the map from flying away and the blue-haired man looked onto it.

Mime Jr. sat on his trainer's shoulder.

"Could you stop fighting each other?" James exclaimed and fortunately, he caught the attention of the two brawlers. "If this here is the mountain on our map, then we should be able to find some eggs around here!"

"Let me look onto the map!" Meowth demanded.

"No, let me!" Jesse demanded as well.

Both of them reach for the map, although it wasn't very clever to do so. Only a thin branch prevented them to fall to the ground and their movements shouldn't be very helpful.

"Stop to move like that!" James said desperately.

Suddenly, they heard a cracking noise and the trio knew what this meant.

"Don't move one muscle!" James said quietly.

"**Wobbuffet**!" The blue Pokemon popped out of hid ball to say its own name, but unfortunately, he was also the last pound that was missing to break the branch.

"Uahhhhhh~h!" Team Rocket chose the quick way down to earth.

* * *

After they said their goodbyes to the Mankeys to continue their search, Ash's group needed to think about their location right now. It had been some time since they looked strategically for an egg container and their chase for the Ryhorn and Mankey leaded them to some place.

"It's nice to have our egg container back, but we don't know where we are right now." May, who carried the container with the orange egg, said worriedly.

"Well, in the worst case we still have Beautifly, right?" Ash said with confidence.

For the moment, Aipom sat on Ash's shoulder to recover from her fight, but she still looked to every side to find their second egg container. Meanwhile, Pikachu and Eevee walked in front of their trainers to look for potential hideouts.

"You were great in that match, Ash." May said truthfully.

"You should praise Aipom, May. I didn't do much." Ash responded with a smile.

"Ash?" May said unsurely.

"Yeah, May?"

"I really enjoy this egg hunt with you. It has to be an eternity since we did something together." May said with a sweet smile.

"How do you mean that?" Ash was slightly confused.

"I mean …" May wasn't sure how to explain it. "I mean just the two of us … when I started my journey, it were just you and me …"

Ash listened before he replied. "The most important thing is that you have fun right now. Moreover, I'm happy that this event could cheer you up."

"Cheer me up? Have I been upset?" May said unsurely, not expecting that Ash had noticed her behavior.

" … " Ash thought for a few seconds. "I noticed that you have been quite down after your defeat at the Grand Festival and I thought that you could think that you disappointed me with your performance, despite my congratulations."

May didn't want that Ash had to feel bad when he thought that she had to feel bad.

"I just had a lot on my mind, … but it wasn't because of the Grand Festival …" May said slowly.

Ash was relieved about May's answer, yet curious what was on May's mind.

Suddenly, Pikachu stopped and the yellow rodent smelled some sent in the air that was quite familiar to him, but the electro-type was sure that it had to be an eternity since the last time he had smelled it.

**End of the chapter!**

* * *

**That's the sixth chapter of this little story and I think I'm quite satisfied with it. It was good to include a Pokemon match in that chapter to shaken things up a bit, but I also managed to do enough progress with it. Actually, I thought it would be great to have two monkeys in Aipom and Mankey, but unfortunately, many ape related words in German doesn't mean the same in English.**

**I know that this story will never be very popular, but I'll be happy to get this idea out of my head. **

**Once again, I referenced some facts from the Anime, but I'm sure that I'm the only one who remembered all of them, but that's quite normal. **

**See you next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**We reach chapter 7 of the Easter Orienteering and this chapter is one that I loved to write, especially the emotional scenes and dialogues. Apparently, this story will get ten reviews with fourteen chapters, but it's not the first time that I write an underrated story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Being there when it matters the most**

Pikachu's sensitive nose couldn't get rid off this sent that had been within the air for the last several minutes and the rodent tried to remember it. Sniffing, the rodent caught the attention of the remaining group members.

"What's up, pal?" Ash asked curiously.

May tried to sense something as well, but she just smelled the fresh air of the forest.

Moving forward, the electro-type followed the scent that reminded him on an old friend that he hadn't seen since his early days with Ash. The more Pikachu remembered the faster he ran through the forest, confusing his friends.

"Pikachu, where are you going?" Ash exclaimed.

"Something caught his attention!" May explained.

Eevee, Beautifly and Aipom asked the mouse in Pokemon language what he was doing, but they weren't very successful at this. With nothing better to do, everyone followed the rodent through the woods.

Suddenly, Pikachu grew a smile and he became even faster.

"Apparently, Pikachu is happy about something." Ash noted.

After a short sprint, the group once again reached another clearing, but this time it consisted of a small hill with a single tree stump on its highest point. Immediately, Pikachu stopped and looked up to see the tree stump, where the scent came from.

Again, Pikachu looked with some disbelief to that place.

Ash, May and the others caught up with the mouse, although they panted slightly.

" … what made you that excited?" Ash asked before he looked to the tree stump as well.

Ash made big eyes when he recognized that creature on the tree stump, but he thought about the likelihood of this situation. Unlike him and Pikachu, May and the remaining Pokemon were quite confused.

Looking alternately to Ash and the rodent, May was puzzled.

"Pikachu, do you think that's him?" Ash asked his yellow Pokemon.

The mouse nodded slowly and now, Ash realized the light orange neckerchief around the neck of him.

"Ash, could you please tell me what's going on?" May asked sternly.

"Well …" Ash said with a smile. "We found an old friend of mine."

May raised an eyebrow before she looked to the tree stump as well. Although, this individual sat with his back to them on that stump, May could tell that it was a Pokemon.

It was Ash's Butterfree.

Without wasting a second, Ash and Pikachu walked quietly up the hill.

May looked to Eevee and Beautifly, and motioned with her head that the fox and butterfly should follow the others as well.

Ash put his finger to his mouth to shush his Pikachu.

Approaching his bug Pokemon from behind, Ash wanted to surprise Butterfree with their appearance, however, he noticed that his small Pokemon sighed, causing Ash to raise an eyebrow.

Gingerly, Ash tapped Butterfree on his wing.

Startled by this unexpected touch, Butterfree immediately turned around and stared at these unknown individuals.

As soon as he looked into the face of his old trainer, Butterfree's eyes started to be filled with tears.

"It has been some time, hasn't it?" Ash asked rhetorically, yet happily.

Immediately, Butterfree flew into the arms of his trainer and Ash hugged gently his Pokemon.

May noticed that some tears appeared within Ash's eyes, but it were all tears of joy. Like Ash, Pikachu smiled big time and the rodent was happy that he followed this scent, which leaded them to one of their oldest friend.

"I never thought that I would meet you within this forest again." Ash said and Butterfree nodded, implying that he never thought the same.

Eevee tilted her small head at this new individual.

After a tearful hug, Ash placed Butterfree on the tree stump again.

"It's great to see you again, Butterfree." Ash said enthusiastically.

Shortly thereafter, Butterfree looked to May, Eevee and Aipom.

"Oh! Of course, you don't know May and some of our new Pokemon." Ash chuckled slightly. "Well, I met May on my journey through Hoenn and now, she accompanies me through Kanto again. That's on my shoulder is Aipom, this small fox on the ground is May's Eevee and … uh … where's your Beautifly, May?"

The brown-haired coordinator thought that her bug Pokemon should be next to her, but she couldn't spot it anywhere.

"Beautifly, where are you?" May shouted.

Suddenly, Beautifly peeked over the shoulder of May and the butterfly looked unsurely to Butterfree.

"Beautifly, what are you doing on my back?" May asked confused.

Pikachu, Eevee and Aipom motivated Beautifly to meet their friend as well.

"You don't need to be afraid, Beautifly. Butterfree is very nice and I'm sure that you two can be great friends, especially since you two are butterflies." Ash explained enthusiastically, but Beautifly was still somewhat of unsure to leave May's back.

When May looked over her shoulder, she noticed a slight tint of red on Beautifly's face and she played with the thought that her bug type had fallen in love. Nevertheless, May reached over her shoulder to take Beautifly away from her back before she put her onto the tree stump next to Butterfree.

Butterfree tilted his head at the other butterfly.

Unfortunately, Ash noted something that he didn't know.

"Where's your girlfriend by the way, Butterfree?" Ash asked curiously, although Beautifly started to look sadly.

Immediately, Butterfree lowered his head again and looked onto the ground. Looking very upset, the bug didn't say anything and everyone wondered what had happened to the otherwise happy butterfly.

Pikachu jumped onto the stump and patted Butterfree's back with his paw.

"It makes me sad to see him like that." May explained. "Why is he like that?"

Eevee, Aipom, Pikachu and for some part Beautifly gathered around Butterfree to cheer him up, while Ash took May by her shoulder and turned her around.

"Ash, why are you …?" May was slightly surprised.

"It surprises me that I never told you about Butterfree, but …" Ash looked sadly to his Pokemon. " … Butterfree had been the first Pokemon that I ever caught and he was part of my team until he fell in love with a pink butter free. It wasn't easy for me, but I released him again, so that he could follow his heart."

May had never heard Ash speaking about love and following his heart like that.

"Something seemed to have happened …" Ash said.

The coordinator thought about it and suddenly, she remembered that she had seen a pink Butterfree this morning at the river when she got water with her brother. Back then, this pink Butterfree cuddled with another Butterfree, but May was sure that it didn't have a neckerchief.

"Ash …" May said quietly,. "When I got water with Max this morning at the river, I saw a pink Butterfree who cuddled with another Butterfree. I'm sure that it wasn't your Butterfree, because it didn't wear a neckerchief."

Ash listened carefully.

"Oh … are you completely sure?" Ash asked unsurely.

" Uh …" May thought about it. "Yeah …"

Ash's facial expression became sadder. "That's the reason why Butterfree is so upset …"

"Do you think that Butterfree's mate fell for another Butterfree?" May asked before Ash nodded. "That's so sad …"

"It has to be extremely difficult for him, but he's my friend and I'll do everything to cheer him up again!" Ash said determined.

"It breaks my heart to see him like that and I'll help you to cheer him up!" May said with a smile.

Eevee, Pikachu and Aipom still tried to talk with Butterfree, but the butterfly was just too upset.

Suddenly, Ash's shadow appeared on the ground and Butterfree looked up. Out of nowhere, Ash hugged his Pokemon once again, but this time, Butterfree was surprised.

"I'm really sorry that I reminded you on that … You surely feel alone right now and it breaks our hearts that you have to experience something like that … " For the second time, Ash's eyes watered up, but this time, his tears actually rolled down his cheek and landed on Butterfree's wings.

Butterfree was still surprised that his trainer understood so much so quickly.

"I'm happy that I found you and that I can be here when it matters the most …" Ash said truthfully.

Pikachu's eyes watered up slightly as well and even May couldn't suppress a tear.

Now, Butterfree started to cry heavily and he let all emotions out that he had to keep inside his heart for so long. Butterfree couldn't wish for a better trainer and the bug thanked Ash for everything, especially his sympathy.

May sobbed slightly.

Eevee, Pikachu and Aipom sat quietly around them.

Beautifly looked very sadly and she felt more than sorry for her fellow butterfly.

"I'll be there for you …"

* * *

Like always, Team Rocket was very tough and the trio already had recovered from their fall to the ground. Now, they needed to look for the eggs by feet, although they had a map that helped them more than anything else.

"Mime Mime Jr." The small clown Pokemon sat happily on the shoulder of his trainer.

"Come on, James!" Jesse became inpatient. "Shouldn't we have already found the first one?"

"It's not that easy! It would have been much easier to search from the air, because I can't exactly say where we are right now." James responded, sweating slightly.

"Perhaps, if Jesse sticks her nose even more into the air, we can climb it up and watch from there!" Meowth said sarcastically. Once again, tensions started to build between the two Rocket members, but that had become normal.

"I would prefer a navigation system!" James said with a chuckle.

After some minutes of walking, James stopped in front of a bush and the blue-haired man compared map and surroundings multiple times.

"Well, If I'm not mistaken then we should the first egg behind this bush." James said.

"Finally!" Meowth and Jesse exclaimed at the same time before they jumped through the bush.

Unfortunately, James saw how an orange cloud of dust appeared from behind the bush and the Team Rocket member wondered what it was. After Jesse and Meowth didn't return, he looked through the bush by himself.

"What takes you that long?"

Jesse and Meowth laid on the ground, looking as if they were hit by something. When James looked to the side, he saw how a Parasect walked away from this place and the blue-haired man assumed that it hit his teammates with stun powder.

"It seems that I was wrong, sorry!" James said, rubbing sheepishly the back of his head.

"Mime Mime Jr."

Quivering, Jesse and Meowth shot death glares to their team member.

* * *

The idyll within another part of a forest was cut short when suddenly, several individuals appeared out of nowhere and crashed down onto the ground. After a second look, it became obvious that it were Max, Brock, June, Sara and their Pokemon.

Brock was buried by Bonsly, Marshtomp and Forretress.

Fortunately, Sara didn't land hard on the ground and the egg container within her arms wasn't damaged in any way.

On the other hand, Max crashed onto a branch of a tree and the young boy could have wished for a better place for his landing. Clinging to the wood, the young individual wondered where they were right now.

Brock crawled out of his mess before he rubbed his head.

"Apparently, Munchlax used Teleport …" The breeder assumed. "Speaking of Munchlax; where's he?"

Suddenly, Max heard a cracking noise above him before Muchlax dropped from a higher place onto Max's branch. Breaking apart due to the Pokemon's weight, the branch collapsed, but fortunately, Max could hold on to a tree hole.

Brock's day became worse when Munchlax landed on his back.

June tried to suppress her giggles.

Max tried to hold on and the boy looked into that hole of the tree.

Sara, June and Brock wondered in which part of the forest they were, but they were interrupted by a loud call from the blue-haired boy, Max.

"What's up, Max?" Brock asked worriedly, thinking hat Max needed help to get down from the tree.

"I FOUND ONE, BROCK!" Max yelled enthusiastically.

"What are you speaking about?" Brock replied confused.

"A PRETTY GIRL, BROCK!" Max yelled and Brock started to listen carefully.

"Really?" Brock said hopefully.

"OF COURSE NOT! I'M JUST KIDDING!" Max yelled again. "I found an egg container!"

"You found an egg up there?" Brock said with some disbelief. "Are you sure that this isn't the nest of a bird Pokemon and you just found an unofficial egg that doesn't even belong to the egg hunt?"

Not wanting to argue with Brock anymore, Max pulled the egg container out of the tree hole before he fell backwards to the ground. Happily, Brock caught hi in time and the breeder realized That Brock was right and that the young boy indeed found an egg container.

Although June and Sara looked slightly envious to the boy, they were nevertheless happy for him that he had luck. Now, both teams had an egg each, which means that it would become even more interesting now.

Max put the egg container onto the ground before he hugged Munchlax.

"Thank you, Munchlax! Without your Teleport, we wouldn't have found this egg!" Max started to "dance" with the lax Pokemon, although it looked silly.

Without a warning, the group heard noises from the bushes and at first, they feared that Munchlax didn't teleport them far away enough from the Beedrills.

However, four other individuals appeared and they immediately ran to June and Sara.

"Nidorina! Marill!" Sara greeted the Pokemon.

"Clefairy! Natu!" June hugged the two other Pokemon.

Brock became jealous, but Max curious and the boy approached the reunited group.

"Are that your Pokemon?" Max asked unsurely.

"You're right!" Sara said happily. "Nidorina and Marill looked through the woods when your Munchlax took my egg away and I didn't have time to notify them."

June nodded.

"I wonder how they found us, although we don't know ourselves where we are right now." Max scratched the back of his head. "Nevertheless, I'm happy that you found your teammates again and you can finally continue the hunt, just like Brock and me."

"Well, I assume that Natu used her psychic powers to sense us or to throw a look into the future." June explained, caressing her small bird Pokemon.

Brock took the egg container off the ground before he walked to the group as well.

"However, there's still the question where we are right now." Sara said.

"That shouldn't be a problem!" Max said enthusiastically as ever and he immediately took his PokeNav out of his pocket. It was strange why he didn't use his device the whole day, at least it hadn't been mentioned at all.

"Wow, a PokeNav, right?" Sara said.

Max nodded before he used the navigation system of his device to show a simulation of this map.

"What are those lines?" June asked, pointing onto the device.

"Those are the borders of the egg hunt location." Max explained.

"I didn't notice that you saved the borders of the egg hunt location on your device during the introduction speech." Brock said, amazed.

"Didn't you try to flirt with Nurse Joy back then?" Max replied with a sigh.

Max looked onto the device to locate their position and soon, the boy could say where they were right now. Apparently, Munchlax's Teleport didn't move them far away from their original position, but that was actually very good.

"We are here!" Max pointed on their position. "Well, we are still in the first third of the location!"

During that time, Munchlax, Bonsly, Marshtomp and Forretress befriended June and Sara's Pokemon.

"That means that we have still enough area where we need to look for other eggs." June said thoughtfully. "Actually, we should split up again, although you two boys are likeable after all the disaster!"

"How are you supposed to look for another egg without your lucky charm?" Brock once again kneeled down and held June's hand.

"Of course, my lucky charm will accompany me." June giggled sweetly and Brock took June's hand with both hands before he wanted to declare his love again. "Am I right, Clefairy?"

Brock's world broke down …

It became even worse for Brock when Max pulled his ear to drag him away from that girl.

After they waved goodbye to the other group of the egg hunt, June and Sara disappeared with their Pokemon within the woods, leaving Max and Brock alone. Of course, Brock was sad that the pretty girls left them, but on the other hand, he and Max found their first eggs.

Being alone, the two boys and their Pokemon looked at "their" egg container.

"What do you think is within it, Brock?" Max asked curiously.

"Normally, the color of the egg will be the color of the skin or fur of the Pokemon. According to the look of your egg, it will be a grey Pokemon, although I can't exactly say which kind of Pokemon." Brock explained.

"A grey Pokemon?" Max repeated slowly.

Suddenly, Bonsly shouted loudly its name.

"What's wrong, Bonsly?" Brock asked.

The small bonsai Pokemon pointed to the woods where Munchlax disappeared again.

"Oh no! Not again!" Max exclaimed.

* * *

Ash's affection towards his Butterfree was exactly what the buy-type needed in this difficult time, that's why the butterfly could slowly get over this terrible experience, although it would take much more time to continue with the normal life.

After Ash placed Butterfree on the tree stump again, he knew that he should spend more time with his friend.

"Tell me, Butterfree, do you even know that it's Easter?" Ash asked with a smile.

The butterfly shook slowly his head.

"It's typical that humans look for colored eggs during the Easter period, but Scott, a friend of mine, decided to make an egg hunt for Pokemon eggs today. That's the reason why May, I and our Pokemon walk through this forest right now." Ash explained enthusiastically, trying to cheer his bug Pokemon up.

Butterfree was still slightly confused, but Aipom, Pikachu and Eevee explained it to their friend as well.

May noticed that her Beautifly acted strange around Ash's Butterfree.

"It had been a confusing egg hunt so far …" Ash chuckled nervously. " … and we still need to find one more egg container within this area."

Sitting on the stump, Butterfree tilted his head.

"To come to the point; I want that you join our team." Ash said.

Suddenly, all Pokemon started to convince Butterfree to join their team and the bug-type couldn't really deny their wish, especially after they cheered him up again. Looking to everyone, the butterfly didn't feel very sad anymore and so, he nodded to accept the offer.

"I hope that this isn't against the rules that we have five Pokemon on our team now …" May said thoughtfully.

"From a technical point of view, we are only allowed to carry four Pokeballs with us, but Butterfree isn't bound to one and that shouldn't be against the rules, May." Ash explained optimistically.

"You're right!"

"Thanks, but could you show Butterfree our egg container, so that he knows how it looks like?" Ash asked politely.

"Of course!"

Immediately, the brown-haired coordinator put the container onto the stump, so that Butterfree could look at it. Hesitantly, Beautifly stepped next to Ash's Butterfree, but she shouldn't act like a coward right now, after all, Butterfree was part of their team now.

"We still have around five hours to find another one." Ash noted.

After a few moments, May took the egg container in her arms.

Now, Pikachu and Aipom climbed onto the shoulders of Ash before Butterfree became excited. The bug flew onto Ash's head to imitate the two other Pokemon. Unfortunately, three Pokemon were slightly too much for the raven-haired trainer.

"I think that you need to rotate now and then …" Ash said casually, sweatdropping.

Pikachu jumped to the ground again to meet with Eevee and Aipom preferred to jump across the branches anyway, giving Butterfree the chance to walk with his trainer.

Interestingly, Beautifly flew onto May's head before she looked shyly to Butterfree.

"Are you ready?" Ash asked.

"Pika / Vee /Aipom/ Free / Fly / Of course!" The remaining group members said yes.

During their way through the forest, May looked slightly up to see Beautifly's facial expression and she assumed that her bug was very shy. On the other hand, May could understand her behavior and perhaps, she should try to talk with Beautifly in private soon.

It looked funny how both, May and Beautifly, turned their heads towards the Kanto trainer and his Pokemon.

"Butterfree, there's so much that I could tell you, but I don't know where I should start at all though … " Ash crossed his arms.

Eventually, Ash told Butterfree everything about his original team; Charizard's new home in the Charicific Valley, Squirtle's return to his gang, Bulbasaur's responsibilities as mediator at professor Oak's lab and his promise to Pidgeot that watched over several Pidgeys.

May listened carefully as well, because she didn't know all of that either.

Eventually, the group left the woods as well before they stood in front of a large mountain area.

"That looks like a good hideout for an egg, doesn't it?" Ash asked.

"We should consider it at least …" May said quietly.

Aipom, as a monkey, loved nothing more than to climb everything in sight and the purple creature immediately looked behind several rocks for an egg container. Unfortunately, she wasn't very lucky and soon, she returned to her group to notify them about this.

"Perhaps on top of this mountain?" Ash wondered aloud.

"We can always send Butterfree and Beautifly to the top of it, Ash." May said optimistically.

"We could, but I prefer that we , as a group, try to find a way to the top of the mountain. It's all about teamwork today!" Ash said with a clenched fist and a determined look.

"Well, you're the leader!" May said, giggling.

"Hey, I'm not the leader!" Ash said sternly. "We are all equal during this hunt and everybody can suggest an idea."

"I just made fun, Ash." May said hectically. "I didn't intend to insult you somehow!"

"May, you know that I can't be mad at you." Ash replied, chuckling.

The two didn't even notice that Pikachu and Eevee disappeared, but the duo already came back from their own trip. Loudly, Pikachu caught the attention of the two trainer before he pointed to another place.

"Pikachu seems to have found something, but like I said, everyone can suggest an idea." Ash said before he followed the rodent and the fox.

May sweatdropped slightly.

"He's so naïve, yet so loveable." May sighed quietly, completely forgetting that Beautifly sat still on her head. Looking down, the butterfly looked onto the face of her trainer and May immediately realized that her bug-type could assume something.

"Beautifly?" The bug Pokemon wondered.

"It's not like you think!" May shook quickly her head, almost throwing Beautifly to the ground.

Nevertheless, the butterfly tilted her head once more.

"Please, don't say anything to Pikachu, Eevee or Aipom!" May knew that she couldn't deny it as much as she wanted, especially after she was still confused about her emotions anyway. "I promise that I won't tell Butterfree anything about your crush on him!"

Beautifly's face immediately reddened.

"Did you think that I didn't notice it?" May said triumphantly.

Fortunately, the two females decided to keep this conversation a secret before they followed Ash to another place as well.

Eventually, May caught up with the rest of her group before she noticed an entrance to a cave.

"Don't tell me that we have to walk through this cave?" May said fearfully.

"I know that it's very dark, but if it leads us to the top of the mountain, we should use it." Ash said fearless. "Nevertheless, we should stay together - - - … Aipom, wait!"

The purple monkey immediately entered the dark cave on her own and soon, she disappeared within the darkness. Not wanting to lose track of the monkey once again, Ash followed Aipom, ignoring his own suggestion to stay together.

"Ash!" May yelled, but the trainer didn't listen to her. After she hesitated a bit, May plucked up the courage to follow her 'crush' into the dark cave, so did Pikachu and Eevee.

The farer away she got from the entrance of the cave the darker it became for May.

Several times, May bumped into the walls of the cave. Unlike her, Pikachu followed his nose to find his trainer somewhere. Unfortunately, it didn't become brighter and the brown-haired coordinator started to shiver.

Meanwhile, Ash followed the noises of Aipom's steps until he finally spotted some light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to the light, Ash spotted the image of his monkey Pokemon and he immediately took Aipom off the ground to give her a slight telling-off.

"Aipom, why did you run away like that?" Ash asked sternly.

The monkey scratched innocently the back of his head.

"Well, at least, we didn't need to be in this cave for long, right May?" Ash didn't receive an answer. "May?"

Realizing that his brown-haired friend wasn't anywhere close to him, Ash turned around.

"MAY?" Ash shouted loudly and the walls of the cave reflected his words, causing a loud echo.

"Ash?" May answered, but she sounded very afraid.

"May, where are you?" Ash asked loudly, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know, but I always bump into a wall, no matter in which direction I move …" May said fearfully, although she wasn't alone, because Beautifly was with her. "Ash, could you please get me?"

"Wait! I'll look for you!" Ash said loudly before he missed another friend. "Pikachu, are you with, May?"

"Pika / Vee!"

Apparently, Eevee and Pikachu were still together, which meant that Ash would need to look for his rodent as well as for May's Eevee. With Butterfree on his head and Aipom on his shoulder, Ash walked back into the dark cave.

"I'm on the way!" Ash said with a motivating voice.

"Ash, I'm here!" May tried to lead Ash with her voice to her location.

Ash followed her voice and he went with his hand along the stone walls to find a way to his friend. At first, it took him several minutes to find a suitable way, but fortunately, May kept on with her calls, leading the raven-haired boy closer to her.

Eventually, Ash found something else than stone in this darkness.

Feeling it, Ash noticed that it was soft and warm, that's why he assumed that he found his rodent and that he caressed Pikachu's head right now. Caressing the "Pokemon", Ash sighed in relieve.

"Come on, Pikachu! Let's find, May!" Ash said enthusiastically.

"Uh … Ash? At the moment, you only have a hold on … me." May said with a very embarrassed voice.

**End of the chapter!**

* * *

**Well, that was an interesting chapter, but there's still enough room to make this an memorable egg hunt. We had some reunions, farewells and unexpected situations, but it's great to have reached probably the half of this story. **

**Max's group found their first egg, thanks to Munchlax, which means that the Pokemon ate Brock's Pokemon food justly. The newest egg is grey, but that doesn't reveal which kind of Pokemon will be in it. **

**See you later!**


	8. Chapter 8

**There isn't much left to say, but Butterfree's appearance will make this story even better and to be honest, I still don't know what the second egg of Ash's team will be. Due to the egg hunt, the story is limited to various aspects, but I still have some things that I want to include before the eventual ending. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

**Chapter 8: Crystal-Clear**

* * *

Fortunately, the darkness hid May's gigantic blush that covered her whole face after Ash touched a very private part of her body. Of course, she knew that it wasn't Ash's fault, but it confused her even more that she didn't know how to react to that.

" … " Ash didn't move a single muscle right now.

Suddenly, Pikachu found his trainer's leg within the darkness before he climbed to Ash's shoulder.

Realizing that he didn't caress his rodent at all, the raven-haired boy grew a gigantic blush as well that was hidden by the darkness as well.

A strange silence enveloped the whole cave.

Now, Eevee found her trainer before she climbed to the brunette's shoulder.

"Pika? / Vee?" The two Pokemon were slightly confused why it was that quiet.

Finally, Ash found his composure again, at least most of it.

"*cough* … Fortunately, we found everyone …" Ash said nervously, but May didn't respond to that right now. Apparently, the brunette carried her egg container under her left arm, that's why Ash took her right hand before he leaded her out of the short tunnel.

May didn't fight against this, but she looked to the ground.

For the second time, Ash found the exit of the tunnel and the group stepped out of the cave.

Looking away from each other, May and Ash would prefer not to talk about this incident, but they couldn't remain silent for the rest of the day either. Before their Pokemon became too confused, May decided to break the silence.

"Thank you for helping me out of the cave, Ash …" May said unsurely.

"What are friends for?" Ash asked rhetorically, although he still looked away.

Aipom didn't like this slow pace at all and the monkey took the leadership again before she looked for the way. The tunnel leaded them to a higher place, but they still weren't near the top of this mountain.

Butterfree left the head of his trainer to fly in front of him.

"Do you want to tell me something, Butterfree?" Ash asked curiously and he felt relieved that his Pokemon interacted with him at this moment.

The butterfly repeated its name several times before he flew some feet away from Ash.

"Why didn't I think about this earlier?" Ash wondered aloud. "Of course, you know this location better than anyone else of our group and you should show us the way to the peak of this mountain area!"

The butterfly nodded several times before he floated slowly along the way that should lead his group to the top of the location. Actually, nobody had something against this decision.

Once again, Aipom used the branches of the trees to move forward.

Eevee and Pikachu stayed on the shoulders of their respective trainers and Beautifly watched the flying Butterfree from May's head.

Not very surprising that their wasn't much conversation.

The complex mountain area consisted of multiple hills, multiple smaller canyons, large rocks, small grassland areas here and there, several cliffs on every side and a mysterious nature.

Eventually, Ash heard the swoosh of water and the raven-haired trainer became curious.

"Butterfree, could you lead us to those noises?" Ash asked.

Of course, his butterfly didn't mind.

Meanwhile, May was able to look to Ash again and she wished that she could know how Ash thought about this weird incident within the cave. Strangely enough, the brunette wasn't even mad at her friend.

Finally, the group saw the cause of the noises.

It was a waterfall!

"Wow! This cascade looks amazing." May exclaimed fascinated with sparkling eyes.

"It seems that the water comes from the water spring of a higher level, but there isn't any river that leads the water away though." Ash explained the surroundings thoughtfully. "I guess, that there needs to be a subsurface outflow …"

At least, May and Ash weren't silent anymore.

Approaching the small lake that was caused by the hundred feet waterfall, May and Ash admired this beautiful sight. Using this chance, Eevee and Pikachu drank some water from the lake and they noticed that it was clearer than normal water.

Suddenly, Aipom shouted loudly again, looking disappointed to her trainer.

"Did I do something wrong?" Ash asked unsurely, but he understood quickly. "Oh … we should probably concentrate more on our search."

Indeed, the group hadn't used much time as of late to look for potential hideouts.

"Ash?" May asked shyly.

"What's up; May? …" Ash hoped that May wouldn't mention the incident now.

"Wouldn't it be logical for Scott to hide an egg around here? I mean; in the case that nobody finds the eggs, it would be much easier to recollect them when they are at obvious places, right?" May said casually.

" Uh … I agree that Scott wouldn't hide them randomly, but don't forget that he has the map with their locations." Ash responded with a sigh.

Their Pokemon were more active, because Pikachu, Aipom and Eevee looked quickly through all bushes near the lake, but unfortunately, they weren't lucky at all. It took them twenty minutes until they were sure that there wasn't an egg container here.

Suddenly, Aipom got an idea.

"It would have been too nice, right?" Ash questioned before he turned to Butterfree again. "Well, we should perhaps continue our way to the higher levels of this location."

The butterfly agreed happily.

"Ash, what's Aipom doing there?" May asked puzzled.

The raven-haired trainer looked for his monkey before he noticed the purple Pokemon near the lake, where she placed something into the water.

Apparently, the monkey took some bark from a tree that she put into the water.

Swimming on the lake, the bark served as a boat for the Pokemon and Aipom used a twig as a paddle to move across the lake. However, Ash couldn't come up with a reason why his Pokemon should do something like that.

"AIPOM!" Ash shouted loudly. "I doubt that they hid egg containers within the water!"

However, the purple monkey shook her head while still using her paddle to move across the small lake.

"Is Aipom afraid of water?" May asked unsurely.

"Not to my knowledge!" Ash replied with crossed arms. "However, I think that she's just a bad swimmer."

Pikachu and Eevee watched curiously what their Pokemon friend was doing, but unfortunately, Aipom was moving into the direction of the waterfall. As soon as she came close to the falling water, Aipom's boat was hit by small waves that caused her bark to capsize.

Everyone sweatdropped.

Due to the waves, Aipom wasn't really able to swim.

"Beautifly, could you please help her?" May told her butterfly, who still sat on her head.

Of course, the bug didn't mind and Beautifly immediately flew to the shipwrecked monkey before she took Aipom by her tail. During that time, Butterfree looked more observant to the other butterfly, although he didn't think about potential feelings.

After a short flight, Aipom was back on the ground.

"Why did you do that, Aipom?" Ash asked sternly. "You should have known that this wouldn't work and I told you that their aren't any eggs underwater."

"You shouldn't be that hard to Aipom, Ash! You make some mistakes now and then as well." May defended Aipom this time.

Ash's face reddened again, because he was sure that May meant this incident within the cave where he confused May's chest with his Pikachu. Nevertheless, Aipom again pointed to the waterfall and she just didn't want to be quiet.

"Tell us, Aipom, what's on your mind?" May asked, leaving Ash embarrassed enough.

Pointing to May's egg container and then to the waterfall, Aipom explained what she thought.

Pikachu and Eevee thought about the likeliness of Aipom's idea.

"You think that there's an egg container behind the waterfall, right?" May asked and received a nod from the monkey.

Suddenly, Ash put his backpack onto the ground before he removed his gloves from his hands.

"Ash?" May was quite confused.

"We all know Aipom and she won't let us continue until we are sure that there is no egg container behind the waterfall." Ash said before he did some stretching. "To be honest, it's our own fault that we didn't choose any water Pokemon, but I'm a good swimmer, so …"

"You know that I don't like it when you need to be underwater, Ash." May interrupted the raven-haired trainer with her words. "I'm still traumatized from the sea temple incident …"

"I won't go that far this time, May. I promise! As soon as I notice that there isn't anything, I'll come back." Ash explained with a comforting voice, knowing that his brown-haired friend almost died with worry when he almost drowned at the sea temple.

"Keep this promise!" May said sternly.

"I always keep them!" Ash responded.

Now, Ash pulled his jeans down to reveal that he was wearing his swimming trunks beneath them.

"Since when? …" May was confused.

"Am I not allowed to adopt some habits from you?" Ash asked innocently.

May fell flattered that her crush used some of her advices. After Ash removed his shirt, May's bandana and other clothes, he was ready to prove to Aipom that there wasn't anything behind this waterfall, although it seemed clear.

"It won't take long!" Ash said.

Butterfree, Pikachu, Aipom, Eevee and Beautifly took a break on the grass before the lake.

May remained standing and she would wait until Ash would come back.

With a quick dive, Ash jumped into the water before he swam towards the waterfall.

* * *

Between several trees, a girl around 12 years old, who had a huge similarity with the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, kneeled down to feed her Jolteon and the Eevee-evolution happily accepted the snacks from her trainer.

However, the idyll was cut short when the brunette heard noises from some bushes and she hoped that it would be her teammate.

"Is that you, - - -" The girl wanted to ask, but it was just a Munchlax that appeared from the woods.

Smelling the snacks, the lax Pokemon stood in front of the kneeling girl and begged for some food.

Jolteon wondered what this Pokemon wanted from its trainer.

"Who are you?" The brown-haired Cynthia look-alike asked curiously, but she quickly understood. "Are you hungry? I don't have much, but you seem like a friendly individual to me."

Unfortunately for Munchlax, Max and Brock appeared from the woods as well and the two teammates knew that their Pokemon only created chaos, especially on its own. As soon as Max spotted his sister's Pokemon, he pulled it away from the other participant.

"I'm sorry if Munchlax disturbed you somehow!" Max apologized.

"Not at all!" The girl responded friendly. "It seemed to me as if your Pokemon is hungry and I just fed my Jolteon anyway."

"Actually, Munchlax ate already enough." Max explained.

Fortunately, the girl was too young for Brock, that's why he didn't immediately fall in love with her.

"Could it be that you participate in this egg hunt as well?" Brock asked curiously. "By the way, I'm Brock, that's my teammate Max and that are our Pokemon Munchlax, Bonsly, Marshtomp and Forretress."

"Nice to meet you!" The girl responded with a smile. "Actually, I'm a participant, but it seems that I lost track of my teammate … *sigh* … it's never easy with him, but he promised my father that he would accompany me to this egg hunt and normally, he never breaks his promises. … Oops! I completely forgot to introduce myself; I'm April Jeanette, but you can just call me AJ for short."

Jolteon nudged her trainer.

"Oh, that's my Pokemon Jolteon and he's a very proud Pokemon." AJ explained. "I see that you already found an egg, right?"

"Exactly, although it wasn't easy at all." Max responded, but he loved it to meet new Pokemon.

Now, AJ stood up and apparently, she was slightly taller than Max . Moreover, she wore a cheerleader-like skirt and a belly-free top, but it looked more than cute on her. Sighing once more, the brunette looked around.

"Do you only use Jolteon?" Max asked casually.

"To be honest, yes, but my teammate uses three, so it's still the maximum that we can use." April replied politely. " … "

"Perhaps, we could help you to find your teammate and at the same time, we can search for other eggs as well." Brock suggested, because he couldn't look on when a girl needed help, although AJ wasn't in his age group.

"I really don't want you to use your time for that!" AJ waved with her hands.

"It wouldn't be smart to walk through the woods with only one Pokemon, because the Beedrills around here aren't very nice at times …" Max said and he offered his help as well.

"I guess, it would be stupid to reject so much help." April said, smiling.

"Well, in which direction could your teammate be going?" Max asked, looking onto his PokeNav and holding the egg container with his other arm.

"I hope that he kept on going into the north part of this location." AJ replied unsurely.

"We won't know it when we stay around here." Max said casually.

He was right and the group that consisted of three humans and five Pokemon walked slowly to the northern border of the egg hunt location. Unlike Ash and May, they weren't even near that border, but that shouldn't prevent them to find some egg containers.

On their way, Brock noticed April's weird outfit for an egg hunt like this.

"Are you a cheerleader by the way, AJ?" Brock asked.

"Me? No, but there's a reason why I'm wearing it nevertheless." AJ said before she blushed slightly.

Eventually, the group reached another huge clearing, but this location looked like a wasteland to all of them. It was perhaps three times as large as a football field and the forest continued at the other end of the wasteland.

"That's a bleak area …" Max said.

Suddenly, the small boy tripped over something and his egg container dropped onto the ground before it rolled some feet away.

"Are you okay, Max?" Brock asked, comforting the unlucky boy.

"Yes, but what was that?" Max asked curiously.

When Max looked to his egg container, he realized that it moved away from his group, but he couldn't see why.

"HEY!" Max exclaimed harshly before he jumped up to follow the container.

Unfortunately, every time Max wanted to catch the egg container, it moved quickly away and for several moments, the small boy ran circles after the object.

Now, Bonsly tried to help Max, but he wasn't lucky as well.

"Marshtomp, could you help him?" Brock asked.

Immediately, the water Pokemon dashed towards the egg container to help Max. Approaching the egg from three different angles, Max, Marshtomp and Bonsly jumped towards it. However, when all of then jumped, the egg container was thrown into the air before it landed somewhere else.

A painful collision later and nothing had changed.

Rubbing his head, Max cursed before he opened his eyes again.

"Diglett!"

In front of him was a small Pokemon that only looked with its head out from the earth.

Out of nowhere, dozens of other Digletts appeared on that wasteland, covering it like grass.

"That are really a lot of Digletts …" AJ noticed.

Before someone could take action, twenty Digletts appeared under Max before they took him away from his group.

"Brock! Help!" Max yelled, but the Digletts became even faster.

"Marshtomp, use water gun to stop them!" Brock ordered quickly, however, when his Pokemon wanted to use this water attack, it fell into a small hole that some Digletts had created under him.

Five seconds later and Max was already out of eyeshot, leaving Brock alone with AJ and their Pokemon. Unfortunately, Munchlax, Forretress, Jolteon, Bonsly and the trainers were surrounded by a legion of Digletts right now.

"What do you want from us?" Brock asked.

However, he didn't receive an answer when all Digletts disappeared within some seconds.

"May will kill me when she learns that I lost her brother!" Brock shouted fearfully.

"Don't worry! I'll help you to find him, just as you wanted to help me to find my teammate!" AJ said with a comforting voice, but suddenly, her Jolteon started to squeal in happiness about something.

"What's up, Jolteon?" AJ asked curiously.

Now, Jolteon ran some feet away before she met with another Pokemon. Brock noticed that it was a Flareon and the breeder wondered where this Pokemon came from, however, it was soon revealed when another participant of the egg hunt appeared on the scene.

"I already thought you left me alone!" AJ said with a mix of happiness and seriousness.

Strangely enough, the boy whistled innocently before two more Pokemon appeared.

* * *

As soon as Ash jumped into the water, he realized that it was quite cold and at first, he shivered completely, but he kept on swimming.

_Why is that water so cold? Shouldn't it be warmer during a hot day like that? _Ash thought casually.

Due to the fact that Ash was a very good swimmer, he reached the waterfall in no time.

_That's really a lot of water … I'm sure that the water pressure from this cascade is far more powerful than it looks like … I need to dive deeper then … _

At first, Ash turned around before he waved to his friends to signal that everything was okay so far.

Nevertheless, May looked very concerned to the boy, because she didn't like it at all that her crush wanted to do that alone. Like the coordinator, Pikachu sat near the edge of the water and he hoped that his trainer wouldn't do something dangerous.

Diving, Ash realized that this lake was far deeper than he assumed at first.

Quickly, he was twenty feet under the surface and he thought that this needed to be deep enough, that's why he swam forwards.

Unfortunately, he was caught by some kind of stream.

_Hey! … What the heck?! … _

Ash tried to swim out of the steam, but he couldn't do much.

_It's too strong … I'm running out of air …_

Eventually, Ash was pulled with the steam and the trainer tried everything in its power to come somehow out of it, without much success. Covering his mouth with his hands, Ash tried to save the last air that he still had within his lungs.

_Sorry, May, Pikachu, Butter - - - …_

* * *

Ash had been under water for some minutes and May started to worry more and more until she couldn't take it anymore. Putting her egg container next to Butterfree and Beautifly, the brunette started to take off her clothes and like Ash, she wore her swimsuit under her clothes.

"Pika? / Vee?"

"I'll look for him!" May said determined, spotting the swimsuit that she wore during her adventure with Manaphy.

Eevee, Aipom, Pikachu and the butterflies looked with a worried look to the brown-haired girl, but they didn't know either why Ash needed so much time.

"Could you please watch over the egg container?" May asked and of course, the Pokemon agreed.

Immediately, May jumped into the water and she realized as well that it was unusual cold. However, it didn't matter and the coordinator swam towards the waterfall and she pleaded to Mew that her rush wouldn't be in trouble.

The Pokemon waited at the edge of the lake.

Just like Ash, May dove under the water in front of the waterfall and the girl swam as fast as possible.

_Ash, where are you? …_

Unfortunately, she didn't spot the raven-haired boy anywhere and the brunette couldn't even see the ground of this lake. With every passing second, May started to worry more and more and she didn't want to think about the worst case.

_Come on, Ash! You promised it … _

Suddenly, she was caught by a steam as well that pulled her forward. It was almost as if it pulled her under the waterfall. Fighting against it, May fought for fresh air, but she was caught by the full power of the steam that sucked her away.

Eventually, May couldn't keep here air any longer and she started to black out.

_Ash …_

* * *

Eevee sensed that something was wrong and the small fox started to move restless on the ground. On the other hand, Pikachu knew that his trainer was alright, he just knew it. Nevertheless, they needed to trust their trainers, because the Pokemon couldn't do much underwater.

Butterfree sat next to the egg container, worrying about his trainer as well.

However, Beautifly patted Butterfree with her wing on his back and apparently, it helped even a bit.

Aipom was completely restless, because the monkey had insisted that his trainer should look behind the waterfall after all.

* * *

May's vision was completely black and she didn't even hear anything. Everything indicated that she was dead and she didn't even breath right now, however, she could still think for some reason and suddenly, she felt a touch.

Moreover, she felt how fresh air filled her lungs and slowly but surely, the coordinator could move her body again.

Bit for bit, May opened her eyes before she saw Ash's face.

At first, May didn't know what was going on, but then, she noticed that Ash administered first aid to her and that he used a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on her.

Blushing, May knew that Ash only did this to rescue her, but it was nevertheless a kiss.

Suddenly, May sat up to spat some water out and the brunette coughed heavily after she had to swallow so much water. Unfortunately for her, she had to end the "kiss' with her crush, but at the moment, she was happier to see that Ash was alright anyway.

"Thank goodness!" Ash said, sighing in relive. "I thought that I lost you …"

Out of reflex, May hugged the kneeling trainer at her side and she couldn't describe this feeling that Ash was okay.

"I already thought that you would break your promise!" May said with some tears.

"To be honest, I thought so myself, but I was even more worried when I saw you in that critical condition." Ash said, returning the hug as gently as possible.

"The only important thing is that you saved me, Ash." May said happily before she tilted her head. "You used first aid on me, right? I didn't know that you know how to use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

Ash's face reddened and he even coughed several times.

"There isn't much that you need to know to save a friend …" Ash replied sheepishly.

"You …" May put a hand on her chest. "You used a cardiac massage as well, right?"

Now, Ash's blush covered his whole face and the raven-haired trainer didn't want to admit that he had touched May's chest again during the first aid, although it was necessary.

"Don't worry, Ash! It's okay if you did." May replied, blushing as well.

After a short silence, May only now realized the surroundings and that she was within a cave.

"Where are we?" The coordinator asked.

"Well, I was wrong when I said that the lake had a subsurface outflow …" Ash explained before he pointed to a small river that went through the cave. "The water accumulates within the lake before it flows away through the river behind this waterfall."

May looked around before she spotted a large opening in the cave that was covered by the cascade.

"We two were caught by the steam of this river that pulled us into this cave and fortunately, I was still conscious and could crawl out of the water before I spotted you. I'm happy that I could get you out of the water, because I don't know where the river leads to." Ash explained coherently.

May looked constantly at the boy.

_There's no doubt anymore … I'm in love with him … _

"May? Are you listening to me at all?" Ash asked.

"Oh … of course, Ash! I just thought about something … That's all." May responded quickly.

"I'm sure that we both agree on the fact that we won't find an egg container here, but now, we need to find an way back. The pressure of this waterfall is too strong to jump through it and the steam doesn't allow us to dive back …"Ash explained the situation.

"Can't we follow the river?" May suggested.

"Unfortunately, the river only leads to the end of the cave before it disappears into a subsurface tunnel and I don't know how long it is. I would prefer that we don't dive today anymore, okay?" Ash replied.

May nodded understandingly before she looked around.

"Ash, look!" May said suddenly, pointing to a higher level. "There's a small opening."

Ash looked up and May was right. Indeed, there was a small opening that provided this cave with some light, but unfortunately, it was quite high to this point and there wasn't some kind of way up to it.

"Well done, May, but how do we reach it?" Ash asked before he looked to another dark corner of the large cave.

"Perhaps …" May wanted to say something.

"Wow!" Ash exclaimed unexpectedly.

May was slightly caught off guard, but when she turned to Ash, she could see that the raven-haired trainer stood at the other end of the cave. It was dark there, but at least, the brunette could see the silhouette of her crush.

"What are you doing there?" May said worriedly.

Ash motioned to May to come to him and when the brunette reached him, she saw that Ash kneeled in front of a large, sparkling stone.

"What's that, Ash?" May asked unsurely.

"It looks like a crystal to me, but perhaps we could take it with us." Ash suggested.

When Ash wanted to take it off the ground, he noticed that it didn't move and soon, the trainer noticed another, even larger, crystal right next to it.

"There's another crystal, May!" Ash exclaimed , surprised. "They're attached to each other somehow, but we could only take the small crystal with us."

May got a bad feeling about this.

Ash took a sharp stone before he tried to separate the two crystals.

"I don't think that this is a good idea." May said fearfully.

"What could possible happen? …" Ash said rhetorically before he hit with his sharp stone between the two crystals.

Suddenly, Ash and May heard a deafening growl before the two crystals disappeared within the darkness as well.

"What was that?" May asked fearfully, clanging to Ash's arm.

Out of nowhere, two large eyes looked at them from the shadows.

"Oni~x!"

**End of chapter!**

* * *

**That's the newest chapter and I know that it was slow at times, but it sets up the next chapter perfectly, that's why it's important to read it. Personally, I loved the interactions of May and Ash, but Max's group has to solve some problems as well now. **

**Like always, if you're able to imagine this chapter as an Anime episode, you'll like it!**

**See you later!**


	9. Chapter 9

**When I played Pokemon Yellow, Red or Blue in 1999, there was the rumor about a "Gigantic Onix", a "Golden Onix" and a "Crystal Onix". Well, that rumor fascinated many fans and we have even seen some of them during the Anime.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 9: David(s) vs. Goliath **

May still clang to Ash's arm when the two big eyes ogled at them, but the brunette could swear that she saw a small tear at the bottom of one eye. Nevertheless, it was creepy and the coordinator tried to pull Ash away from this creature.

"Ash, let us go …" May pleaded.

Suddenly, the creature moved before a "chain" of crystals whipped towards the trainers.

"Watch out!" Ash exclaimed and he pushed May to the side before he avoided the attack as well.

Still wearing her swimsuit, May received some scratches on her skin, but it was nothing compared to what would have happened if this attack had hit her.

"That was close!" Ash said.

Eventually, the creature left the dark corner of the cave and immediately, several sunbeams were reflected on its skin. At first, Ash was blinded, but when he could look at this Pokemon, he couldn't believe that it actually existed within this area.

"Ash, what is this?" May asked fearfully.

"It isn't the right time for long explanations; therefore I'll make it short: It's a Crystal Onix!" Ash said quickly.

"What? I always thought that it's only a myth!" May said with disbelief.

"It's not!" Ash explained hectically. "I already met one on Sunburst Island, but I thought that it was a unique case."

Obviously, it wasn't and the Crystal Onix already aimed for the two invaders that disturbed him within its home. Once again, Onix threw its tail towards Ash, but the trainer could avoid it. On the other hand, May finally realized that their "two crystals" that Ash found were in reality the last parts of Onix's tail.

"Ash, I think that you hurt Onix with your attempt to separate the crystals!" May yelled.

Ash felt bad that he hurt the Pokemon.

"Onix, I'm sorry that I hurt you and we didn't intend to invade your home - - -" Ash tried to explain, but the crystal Pokemon didn't listen.

More and more, Onix cornered the two teens into the other half of cave.

"What should we do, Ash?" May explained nervously.

" … I don't know, honestly … The pressure of the waterfall would squash us and the steam doesn't allow us to swim back …" Ash stepped several steps to the back. "Moreover, we don't know how to reach the opening up there …"

"Please Onix, we - -" May said sweetly, but the large snake Pokemon already attacked again.

May covered her head, thinking that she would be smashed against the wall. However, Onix stopped when a stone hit its head, catching his attention. The large Pokemon turned to Ash and the raven-haired trainer waved with his arms.

"HEY! ONIX, IT WAS ME WHO HIT YOUR TAIL!" Ash yelled.

Immediately, Onix dashed to Ash and the trainer lured the Pokemon away from May.

"Ash, what do you think you're doing?" May said, being panic-struck.

"I'll distract Onix and you need to climb the wall until you reach the opening!" Ash yelled, using a zigzag way to avoid Onix's attacks.

"It's too high for me, Ash and I don't let you alone!" May said sternly, yet fearfully.

"It's the only way and if you reach the opening, you can notify Butterfree and our other Pokemon!" Ash explained, although he started to pant slightly with Onix attacking him endlessly.

"What if you get hurt?" May refused to run away.

"May, I'll be fine and you can help me the most when you get our Pokemon!" Ash said hectically.

Struggling with her thoughts, the brunette finally listened to Ash and she ran to the wall that she needed to climb to reach the small opening. It were approximately thirty feet and May didn't know if she was able to do it.

May knew that she would get some bruises, because she only wear her red bikini right now.

Unfortunately, the Crystal Onix didn't slow down and Ash couldn't go on for much longer.

Finally, May started to climb the rock wall and she prevented herself to go back to Ash, although there wasn't anything that she would love to do more right now.

A race against the clock started.

* * *

Pikachu, Eevee, Aipom, Butterfree and Beautifly still watched over Ash and May's stuff, but the trainers had been away for a long time and waiting became a torture. Eventually, Pikachu had enough and the rodent ran along the edge of the lake to find a water Pokemon that could help them.

Eevee followed Pikachu.

Aipom covered her eyes with her arms and she just wanted that her trainer and his friend would return, with or without an egg.

Strangely enough, Pikachu and Eevee couldn't find a single water Pokemon, although it was a beautiful with crystal clear water. Nevertheless, the two Pokemon didn't lose hope and they looked again for help of water-types.

Butterfree looked to the ground, sitting next to the egg container.

Beautifly looked sadly to the waterfall.

Then, Butterfree lifted its head and sensed mentally something before he turned to May's Beautifly.

* * *

May climbed inch for inch, but the cold stone hurt on her skin and the coordinator knew that she wasn't as good of a climber as Ash. Now and then, she needed to climb some feet down again, because there wasn't a ledge where she could hold on.

"I need to reach this opening!" May said to herself. "Ash counts on me!"

The brunette had already climbed twenty feet of the stonewall and she could almost smell the fresh air.

Ash held the side of his belly and he had problems to breath, but he needed to buy more time for May.

Once again, Onix's tail crashed onto the ground next to Ash and this time, the trainer fell down before he turned to the large Pokemon. Still hoping that the Pokemon would understand, Ash looked Onix directly into his eyes.

May almost reached the edge of the opening and the brunette stretched her arm.

Suddenly, she heard Ash, who screamed in pain and May immediately turned her head to look for her love.

May's eyes spotted a shocked expression when she saw how the Crystal Onix used Bind on Ash and the poor trainer couldn't move at all. Being distracted from her actual task, the coordinator almost cried when she saw Ash in pain.

"Let him go!" May yelled furiously.

Onix turned his attention to May, without releasing its grip on Ash.

"May! Are you insane?" Ash said, suppressing the pain.

Due to the fact that May was in thirty feet height and Onix was only twenty-six feet long, the crystal snake rammed its head against the wall.

The impact let the whole wall shake and May clang the ledges of the wall.

Ash became furious. "ONIX! STOP AND LISTEN TO ME!"

Strangely enough, the crystal Onix listened and the huge Pokemon lowered its head towards the individual, who was still trapped between Onix's tail.

May thought that she had survived the worst.

Suddenly, the ledge broke away and May lost her balance before she started to fall to the ground. It would hurt May a lot to hit a stone ground after she fell thirty feet onto it.

"MAY!" Ash yelled.

The girl closed her eyes and she only regretted that she didn't tell Ash what she finally understood.

However, there was no impact and when May opened her eyes again; she realized that a string shot was wrapped around her torso. When she looked to the end of the string, May spotted Butterfree and Beautifly within the opening of the cave.

"BUTTERFREE / BEAUTIFLY!" Ash and May exclaimed respectively.

Beautifly clang to the stone, because she still had to carry May's weight with her string shot. Fortunately, Butterfree helped her, so that she wouldn't fall down with May.

As soon as May overcame her shock, she started to grab for the ledges of the wall to make it easier for Beautifly to hold her. After that, she climbed quickly up the wall again and soon, she reached the opening where Beautifly and Butterfree waited for her.

Ash sighed in relieve before he looked again into Onix's eyes.

"Listen, Onix! I'm sorry that I hurt your tail and it wasn't our intention to disturb you in your home!" Ash explained sternly, yet calmly for a second time and actually, Onix didn't move or tighten the grip on Ash.

May looked down into the cave and she bit on her lips.

"Beautifly, please stop, Onix!" May pleaded.

Of course, her butterfly followed her wish and Beautifly flew to the edge of the opening before she shot a string shot into Onix's eyes.

"No!" Ash exclaimed, but it was too late.

Onix released its grip n Ash before it tried to remove the attack from its face.

"Calm down, Onix! I'll help you to remove - - -" Ash wanted to speak with the giant snake, but Crystal Onix freaked completely out and started to attack random areas with its tail, even almost hitting Ash in the process.

Ash felt bad for the Pokemon.

"ASH!" May's voice shouted from above.

The raven-haired trainer turned around before he spotted a string shot that May let down for him.

At first, Ash didn't want to leave like that, but Crystal Onix slowly but surely removed the strings from its face and it was likely that the crystal snake would be even angrier now.

Grabbing the string shot, Ash climbed quickly up the wall until he reached the opening as well.

Immediately, May hugged him again.

"I was so afraid!" She said with some tears.

"Not as afraid as me, May." Ash responded, showing that he cared much for her as well.

"You can't imagine how grateful I am." Ash said towards Butterfree and Beautifly and the two butterflies smiled at each other.

However, once again, the whole area was shaking when Onix rammed its body against the wall.

"I wish we could explain it to him …" Ash said sadly.

May looked sadly as well before she looked at the other end of the huge ledge.

"Ash! …" May exclaimed and the Kanto trainer turned around to see that the only way away from here was to leap into the lake again.

"It are only thirty feet, May." Ash said, knowing that Butterfree and Beautifly wouldn't be strong enough to carry their weight in the air.

"I have seen enough water for one day!" May said, shivering.

Ash took May by her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"Listen, May! We will jump together and after that, we can swim to our Pokemon and continue our egg hunt, okay?" Ash said calmly, yet nicely.

May hesitated, but eventually, she nodded.

"Butterfree! Beautifly! Fly to our Pokemon and tell them that everything's okay!" Ash said and the two bug-types immediately brought the good news to Pikachu and the others.

"I'll count to three!" Ash said and May nodded before she clang to Ash's arm, not risking to lose him underwater. " … 1 … 2 … Go!"

Both teens jumped thirty feet down into the water and once again, it was ice-cold.

When May appeared from the water again, she immediately looked for Ash and fortunately, the boy wasn't far away. At first, they swam away from the waterfall and the steam that pulled them into Onix's home.

"Are you okay?" Ash asked, shivering a bit.

"Thanks to you." May replied, shivering as well.

The farer away they were from the waterfall the more relieved there were.

Eventually, Ash and May spotted their Pokemon at the water's edge. Pikachu, Aipom and Eevee were extremely happy when they saw their trainers that were approaching their location.

Suddenly, they heard a loud noise.

Turning around in the water, May and Ash had to witness that the Crystal Onix dove through the waterfall before it disappeared within the lake.

"That's not good! Not good at all!" Ash exclaimed.

* * *

With Brock

* * *

Brock assumed that this new individual had to be April's teammate, at least the boy in front of him seemed to be as old as AJ. Being as tall and heavy as Ash, the boy had slightly longer, messy and brown hair that was tied into a ponytail on his neck.

All in all, he reminded Brock on Ritchie.

Immediately, AJ walked to the boy before she put her hands on her hips.

"David, where have you been? As a team, we are supposed to work together!" AJ explained.

"Uh … I thought that you want to admire the nature, that's why I didn't interrupt you and by the way, I found an egg container!" David responded, holding a container with a brown egg in front of him.

Seemingly, April's grief disappeared as fast as it had appeared and the girl looked with sparkling eyes at the object. Out of joy, she wanted to hug her teammate, but David threw the container slightly into the air before he stepped some feet to the back.

As a result, AJ only hugged the egg container.

Brock sweatdropped.

Of course, AJ was slightly puzzled, but she wasn't finished anyway.

Jolteon cuddled slightly with Flareon, although Brock could swear that it was a Shiny Flareon.

Suddenly, Brock spotted two more Pokemon at the sides of David. First, there was a proud-looking Farfetch'd that looked concentrated to the scene and seconds, there was an equal proud-looking Cubone next to David's legs.

"It's a beautiful Pokemon egg, but didn't we want to find the eggs together?" AJ said, slightly hurt.

"Don't you have a great time?" David asked back.

"Yes, but it would be greater if you stayed close to me." AJ said sternly.

"Isn't that close enough?"

"It would be great for our teamwork if we hugged after a successful discovery, patted each other's shoulder to congratulate each other and so on."

"I think that whole stuff is overrated."

Now, Brock coughed several times to catch everyone's attention and actually, everyone, even the Pokemon, looked to the Pokemon breeder.

"I don't want to interrupt your discussion, but I could need help to find my teammate again." Brock said, with Bonsly, Marshtomp, Munchlax and Forretress nodding in approval.

"Oh, sorry, I completely forgot!" AJ said guiltily.

"I guess, your are a participant as well, right? Well, it's nice to meet you! My name's David by the way." David introduced himself to Brock before he extended his hand for a handshake, which Brock accepted.

"We actually helped AJ to find you, but now, my teammate was kidnapped by a group of Digletts!" Brock explained.

At the moment, the group consisted of three trainers and eight Pokemon.

"As much as I know, it's quite normal for Digletts to use such a wasteland as their home and normally, they should have their main cave at the northern part of it." David explained coherently, apparently knowing much about Pokemon in general.

"Well, if that's the case then we need to find it as soon as possible!" Brock said, knowing that he had to care for Max during this egg hunt.

"I promised you to help you!" AJ said.

David scratched the back of his head before he started to walk.

"Where are you going?" Brock asked, confused.

"To the Diglett cave! Didn't I say that?" David asked, equal confused.

"Yes, but you're walking to the south right now." Brock noted.

David lowered his head, blushed and turned around before he walked to the North. When he passed AJ, the girl started to giggle happily before she motioned to the Pokemon to follow them.

Brock didn't know what to think about this boy.

It shouldn't take long to cross the wasteland, but Brock noticed that David's Pokemon behaved strange, especially, Farfetch'd and Cubone. Apparently, both Pokemon wanted to be the "leader" of the group and they passed each other several times.

"What's with your Pokemon?" Brock asked out of boredom.

"Pride!" David answered shortly. "They're very proud Pokemon and both of them want to be the best of my team and in general. It has always been like that, but I think that they respect each other nevertheless, although they don't show it. The worst is when they argue about their items."

"Items?" Brock didn't get it.

"Farfetch'd's leek and Cubone's bone." David answered.

"I think it's sweet!" AJ said casually.

"You find everything sweet …" David sighed.

Fortunately, Munchlax followed the group without incident. Moreover, Flareon and Jolteon walked side by side and Brock assumed that both Pokemon liked each other a lot. Nevertheless, the breeder worried about Max.

_I just hope that Max is okay …_

* * *

With Max

* * *

Several Digletts still carried Max across the wasteland and the boy couldn't stand up at all on them, but at least his egg container was with him. Max could only hope that Brock and AJ would follow him, because the boy would like to finish this egg hunt today.

"What do you want to do with me?" Max asked, but of course, the Digletts didn't answer.

Suddenly, the Digletts approached a gigantic hole in the wasteland.

"Please, I don't want in there!" Max said before he tried once more to come away from this carpet of Digletts, once again unsuccessful.

Bringing Max into one of their tunnels, the Digletts knew exactly why they took the boy to their cave.

* * *

With Ash & May

* * *

With a loud splash, Crystal Onix dropped into the water and disappeared from the eyesight of Ash's group. Ash noticed May's puzzled face, but he knew exactly why his brunette friend was surprised by this.

"Come on, May! We need to get out of the water!" Ash exclaimed sternly.

"Why? …" May still wondered.

"I know that you wonder, but it's a Crystal Onix! That means that it's almost immune against water, but weak against fire though." Ash explained quickly to get the questions out of May's head.

May understood and she started swimming again.

Pikachu, Eevee and Aipom cheered for their trainers.

Eventually, Ash reached the coast before he helped May out of the water.

"May, take the egg container and step away from the coast! I'll put our clothes into my backpack for now. There's no time to dress up." Ash said quickly and May followed Ash's order.

"What do we do now?" May said fearfully, hugging the egg container.

"Onix is mad at us, including Butterfree and Beautifly." Ash explained. "If we just flee, he'll rampage through the whole forest and in the worst case, he could destroy an egg. It's now or never!"

"Do we even have a chance against it?" May wasn't sure.

"We need to!" Ash replied before he turned to his Pokemon. "Aipom, Pikachu and Butterfree, are you ready?"

Ash's Pokemon immediately stood next to each other and the edge of the lake where they waited for the Crystal Onix to appear out from the water. Even without Ash's order, Eevee and Beautifly joined the battlefront and they would do heir best.

May's whole body shivered.

"Where is it?" Ash wondered silently.

Suddenly, the earth started to quake behind May and when the brunette turned around, Onix appeared from out of the ground, surprising everyone.

Ash turned around.

"May, get out of there!" Ash yelled.

Once again, Onix aimed with its tail towards May, however, its attack was blocked by a small dark sphere that shot across the field. Indeed, it was Eevee's shadow ball that saved her trainer and the small fox faced the huge Pokemon.

Fortunately, May could get away from Onix.

"Well done, Eevee!" Ash praised May's Pokemon. "Let's see, Onix is still wet. Pikachu, use thunderbolt!"

The yellow rodent jumped into the air before it released a its strong electro-attack.

Hitting the Crystal snake, the thunderbolt could do some damage, but it wasn't enough to take Onix out. Unfortunately, it made Onix even angrier and it started to fell into a rage that was dangerous for everyone of the group.

"It wasn't enough!" Ash noted.

Now, May couldn't just look on and she would order her Pokemon some attacks as well.

"Beautifly, use Silver Wind and Eevee, another Shadow Ball!" May ordered enthusiastic.

Without waiting, Eevee shot another Shadow Ball and Beautifly started to flap with her wings.

However, this time Onix "caught" the Shadow Ball with the tip of its tail before it "went" along Onix's body. After it reached Onix's head, it shot away from the crystal Pokemon into the direction of Beautifly, but fortunately, Butterfree diverted it with Confusion.

"How did he do that?" May was completely confused, because Shadow Ball's accuracy was normally perfect.

"I guess that the crystals of his body are so polished that it can deflect attacks with it when he leads them along his body." Ash tried to come up with an explanation, although he was amazed as well.

Meanwhile, Aipom tried a Swift attack on Onix, but it didn't do any damage on the hard Pokemon.

"Do you have a plan, Ash?" May said, somewhat of helpless.

"We can't do much damage, but perhaps it won't even be necessary." Ash said thoughtfully before he turned to Butterfree. "Butterfree, use sleep powder to knock him out!"

The butterfly nodded before it flapped its wings to release the powder.

Onix looked at it, but suddenly, it disappeared under the ground again, using dig.

"Where is it?" May looked around.

Out of nowhere, Onix appeared under Butterfree and the crystal snake used Tackle.

However, Butterfree was pushed out of the way by Beautifly and May's Pokemon felt the full force of the attack. Crashing to the ground, Beautifly was hurt.

Butterfree didn't understand why Beautifly did that for him.

"Beautifly!" May ran to her bug-type.

"Pikachu, we need to protect Beautifly!" Ash said determined. "Let's hope that our next attack will be more effective! Use Agility!"

The small rodent fastened up before it dashed towards Crystal Onix. Once again, the giant snake used Rock Throw to hit the mouse, but fortunately, Pikachu was too fast for the rare Pokemon. When the yellow mouse reached Onix, it ran up its body until he reached Onix's head.

"Use your momentum to hut an Iron Tail!" Ash ordered.

Immediately, Pikachu jumped off Onix's head before its tail turned into an iron weapon.

Suddenly, some sunbeams were reflected by Onix that blinded Pikachu and the poor rodent couldn't finish its attack.

On the other side, Onix turned its tail into iron before it hit Pikachu hard on its head.

Crashing down onto the ground as well, Pikachu had problems to stand up again.

Eevee ran to her friend.

"It's unbelievable strong …" Ash crunched with his teeth. "His crystals always blind us as soon as some sunbeams are reflected.."

Now, Aipom challenged the large Pokemon and the purple monkey proudly growled towards the stronger Pokemon. Once again, Onix whipped its tails onto his opponent.

"Aipom, your normal-type attacks aren't very effective!" Ash shouted, not wanting that Aipom would get hurt as well.

Onix's tail crashed onto Aipom, but suddenly, a group of Aipoms appeared around the crystal Pokemon. Ash knew that his monkey used Double Team again, but it would only buy then some time and the trainer looked worriedly to the others.

Pikachu rubbed its head, with Eevee looking sadly at it.

May was still with Beautifly.

"Beautifly, can you hear me?" May asked carefully.

The butterfly was awake and she motioned to her trainer to step out of the sun. Of course, the brunette followed the wish of her bug-type and eventually, Beautifly started to glow in a white light before some rays of yellow light appeared from her.

"Go on, Beautifly! Use Morning Sun!" May said, cheering for her Pokemon.

Out of nowhere, several stones flew towards the injured Beautifly.

However, they were stopped via Confusion from Butterfree and the bug wouldn't let Beautifly getting hurt again.

Meanwhile, Aipom had prepared her Power Punch and she used a short distraction to hit her attack on Onix's head. Surprisingly, it even made some damage and the crystal Pokemon moved some feet to the back.

"Well done, Aipom!" Ash shouted.

Aipom gave Ash a thumb-up with the hand at her tail, but suddenly, Onix whipped its tail one more time to smash Aipom away.

Flying through the air, Aipom was caught by her trainer.

It didn't matter what Ash's group did, because Crystal Onix didn't even have a scratch after all of their attacks. At the moment, Butterfree kept the Pokemon busy, although Onix avoided very Sun Spore or Sleep Powder from the butterfly.

"Pika!"

Ash looked to the side and he saw that his rodent had recovered from Onix attack.

"Are you okay, pal?" Ash asked unsurely.

Of course, Pikachu nodded and he was ready for the second round against this huge snake.

Finally, Beautifly finished her Morning Sun attack and the butterfly was better as ever. Flying, Beautifly knew that Butterfree had saved her during her knockout phase.

It was an unequal fight between Onix and Butterfree, but the bug-type could hold its own.

Ash still thought heavily about a way to beat Onix, at least so much that the Crystal Pokemon would lose its will to fight them.

Suddenly, Ash realized that behind them was still the lake and the raven-haired trainer thought about a way to use it for their advantage.

_There haven't been any Pokemon within this lake, for whatever reason … however, that could help us a lot … It's not Onix fault and I don't want to injure him … _

"May, are you ready for a combination?" Ash said out of nowhere to the brunette.

The brown-haired coordinator was slightly puzzled, but she nodded.

**End of chapter!**

* * *

**I hope that this chapter included enough action, because it's supposed to be one of the main chapters of the story. To be honest, I'm not the best battle writer, but I tried to keep the fight interesting and all Pokemon have to work together. **

**Next time, we will reach chapter 10 and the final of the battle against Crystal Onix. I'm surprised that I could include so many scenes in one chapter and I ca proudly claim that I know already how I'll write the whole story now. **

**See you next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**The more chapters I write for this story the more optimistic I become that I'll be able to finish this story and that's much for me. It would be the first story of mine that actually has an ending, but I'll need to continue now. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Goodbye?**

"Do you have a plan, Ash?" May asked unsurely.

Instead of explaining it slowly from the distance, Ash walked to May before he explained quickly what he intended to do. During the conversation, the brunette turned to the lake and it seemed that she thought heavily about Ash's plan.

"What do you think about it?" Ash asked after his explanation.

"Wow! That's a very good combination, Ash, but are you sure that it won't hurt Onix too much?" May asked.

"I'm sure!" Ash replied enthusiastically.

Eventually, both trainers agreed on the plan and Ash turned back to the fight between Butterfree and the Crystal Onix. Dodging the attacks, Ash's butterfly showed an incredible endurance.

"BUTTERFREE!" Ash shouted loudly. "We have a plan to end this battle and at first, you need to lure Onix to the lake again!"

Butterfree didn't know why he should lead Onix to the lake, but the bug-type wouldn't deny his trainer's orders. Dodging more attacks, Butterfree mocked the crystal creature before he flew towards the lake.

Fortunately, Onix followed without hesitation.

Ash and the others stepped to the side.

When Onix entered the lake again, without withdrawing its gaze from Butterfree, he sank several feet down, but Crystal Onix was still over the surface for the most part.

"Beautifly, it's your turn to help Butterfree, okay?" May said to her butterfly, which immediately flew towards the battlefield as well. "Please, stay safe!"

"Pikachu, are you ready?" Ash asked and received a nod from the rodent. "Well, let's start this then!"

"Butterfree / Beautifly!" May and Ash shouted to their Pokemon. "Use Whirlwind!"

Immediately, Butterfree and Beautifly flapped with their wings, a strong wind blew over the lake and two small tornados appeared on the lake that quickly turned into waterspouts when they absorbed the water from the lake.

Being surrounded by the spouts, Onix didn't look very concerned, seemingly not being intimidated by water at all.

Eventually, the spouts hit the Crystal Pokemon and for a few seconds, Onix was enveloped by water.

"Let's go, Pikachu! Thunder!" Ash shouted.

The yellow electro-type agreed, but suddenly, Eevee appeared behind the rodent and put one of her paws on Pikachu's arm. Of course, the mouse was confused, but suddenly Pikachu started to glow and the rodent felt that he became stronger.

"Eevee? You know Helping Hand?" May was quite confused.

"That's great!" Ash said enthusiastically and after Eevee, Ash and the others were out of range, Pikachu released an enormous thunder attack that shot into the sky before it crashed down onto the ground again.

Meanwhile, both spouts were extinguished by the Crystal Onix when some parts of the snake rotated into the opposite direction of the water tornados. However, Pikachu's thunder crashed down onto the Pokemon and due to the water, Onix received a huge electrical shock.

" … " May looked on and she felt pity for the Pokemon.

"Don't worry, May!" Ash said with a comforting voice. "It doesn't hurt him too much. Let's continue!"

Indeed, Onix didn't look as if he was in pain, but he was nevertheless paralyzed after this thunder.

"Okay, Ash!" May concentrated again. "Beautifly, use another Whirlwind, but this time try to keep it above the water!"

Beautifly sweatdropped slightly, but it should be possible to fulfill her trainer's wish. Flapping her wings, Beautifly used Whirlwind again and soon, a small vortex surrounded Onix, but some wind wouldn't stop the Pokemon.

Unfortunately, Onix was still paralyzed.

"That's our chance, Butterfree! Use sleep powder!" Ash ordered loudly.

Once again, the Kanto Pokemon released the powder before it was absorbed by Beautifly's whirlwind.

Crystal Onix tried to dive under water, but the paralyze still prevented him from doing so.

Due to the whirlwind, the sleep powder was quickly spread on Onix's body and soon, the rare Pokemon didn't have a chance than to start yawning. Slowly but surely, Onix couldn't fight against his tiredness anymore and the snake sank down.

Everybody waited eagerly for Onix to fell asleep.

Eventually, Onix's head fell onto the small coast of the lake and the Crystal creature slept quietly.

Sighing in relieve, the whole group couldn't deny that Onix created some problems for them, but the teamwork of them saved the day. Nevertheless, it was a great scene to see a Crystal Onix from this nearness like that.

Butterfree looked sweetly to Beautifly.

"Your idea worked brilliantly, Ash." May said happily.

"Give the credit to our Pokemon, May." Ash responded truthfully before he looked to the sleeping Crystal Pokemon. "I would have loved to meet him as a friend, but I was such naïve within that cave."

"You haven't been naïve, Ash and by the way, you have been very brave, even without your Pokemon."

"You have been brave as well when you followed me into the cave, May." Ash said truthfully.

The two teens talked for some moments and their Pokemon met in front of them to congratulate each other after this hard fight. Interestingly, Butterfree thanked Beautifly for her help during the brawl and May's butterfly blushed at this before she looked at him with sparkling eyes before they cuddled for a few seconds.

"Actually, I would love to apologize to Onix, but I hope that he can forgive us someday for our rudeness." Ash explained sadly before he turned to Aipom. "Unfortunately, there wasn't an egg container behind the waterfall, Aipom."

The monkey 'apologized' for her stubbornness when she sent Ash into that cave.

"You don't have to feel sorry, but understand that May and I won't do something like that again, at least not today." Ash accepted the apology from his Pokemon before he took his 'full' backpack from the ground again. "On the other hand, we shouldn't forget that we still have to win this hunt!"

May looked at the egg container within her arms.

"We should let Onix sleep." Ash said before he walked away from the lake.

"*cough* … Ash?" May wanted to tell Ash that he forgot that they still wore their swimsuits.

"What's up?" Ash asked naively.

"It seems that you like my bikini very much, don't you?" May said innocently, tilting her head.

It happened quite often today, but Ash blushed again and when he looked to the girl, he noticed that she still wore her red swimsuit that would always remind him on their adventure with Manaphy. Staring at May, Ash didn't know exactly what the brunette wanted to hear from him.

"I thought so!" May smiled sweetly. "We have time until we need to dress up again."

Suddenly, they heard a quiet growl and when the group turned around, they saw that Onix slowly but surely woke up.

"Come on!" Ash said, leading his group into the woods near the lake.

Quickly, they hid behind several bushes to watch what Onix would do now. Lifting his head again, Onix shook his body before he looked around, seemingly looking for the invaders, but he couldn't even spot another Pokemon.

Some moments passed.

Eventually, Onix turned around before he disappeared within the lake again and Ash could only assume that Crystal Onix would go back into his cave. Hopefully, Crystal Onix wouldn't develop a dislike to humans.

"He's away …" Ash noted.

Walking back onto the clearing, the group had survived their adventure with Crystal Onix.

"To be honest, we need to be more careful, because I don't want that someone gets seriously hurt." Ash said, crossing his arms.

Unexpectedly, May opened Ash's backpack before she took two utensils out from it.

"What are you doing?" Ash asked puzzled.

Quickly, May wrapped her bandana around Ash's head before she put Ash's hat onto her head again.

"Did you forget that we swapped headgears as a good luck charm?" May asked unsurely. "Perhaps we had so much trouble, because we didn't wear them within the cave."

"Didn't we have trouble even before that?" Ash asked rhetorically, yet happily.

"I wouldn't call my adventures with you trouble, Ash, but experiences, nice experiences." May replied truthfully before she turned slightly away. "Nevertheless, you saved me countless times today and … and …"

Ash noticed that May struggled to find the right words.

Out of nowhere, May leaned towards Ash before she gave him a peck kiss on his cheek and after that, she walked quickly away, not awaiting a response from the trainer.

Everyone seemed to be surprised about that, with the exceptions of Aipom and Beautifly.

"Pika?"

Pikachu was confused, but not as confused as his trainer. A dark tint of red was on Ash's cheeks and he didn't know whether that was some kind of reward or not. Looking to Butterfree and the others, Ash was silent for a few moments.

" …" Ash was confused, just too confused. "May …"

Nevertheless, he realized that his backpack almost exploded, because he had his and May's clothes within it right now.

"Uh … May, what's with your clothes?" Ash shouted.

However, the coordinator kept on walking, wearing only her swimsuit, Ash's hat and holding the egg container within her arms. A girl's mind was difficult to understand, but Ash's denseness wouldn't make it easier for him.

Butterfree seemed to be deep in thoughts.

* * *

With Brock

* * *

Brock looked weirdly to AJ and David, because he didn't understand their relationship to each other and why they teamed up at all. Actually, AJ was an attractive and young girl, and she seemed to be interested in her teammate.

Seemingly, AJ wanted to hold hands with David, but the trainer immediately switched places with Brock.

"Tell us, Brock, where are you from?" David asked randomly.

"Uh … I'm from Pewter city." Brock was still confused when he walked between AJ and David.

April was sad right now.

Munchlax held its stomach and it could need some food again, but fortunately, Bonsly, Marshtomp and Forretress walked around the lax Pokemon to prevent May's Pokemon from running away again.

Farfetch'd walked proudly in front of the group, but again, Cubone passed the Pokemon to overtake the lead. That same scenario repeated itself several times before Cubone had enough from this overconfident bird.

Cubone used its bone to trip Farfetch'd up.

Falling onto his beak, the bird was everything, but amused by this.

Unfortunately, his beak now stuck in the ground and Farfetch'd had a hard time to get out at all.

Cubone laughed heavily.

"Wait, I'll solve this!" David said, sighing. "Farfetch'd! Cubone! We don't have time for your small jokes and the sooner we finish this egg hunt, the sooner I'll be away from A - - - … "

David suppressed the last letter and smiled sheepishly to AJ before he walked to his Pokemon.

Standing next to his Pokemon, David shook his head.

"When will you learn to come along with each other?" David asked Cubone and Farfetch'd.

Then, he bowed down to pull Farfetch'd out of the ground, at least he tried it. For some reason, Farfetch'd beak stuck extremely hard in the ground and the brown-haired boy had a hard time to get his Pokemon out of it.

Just when AJ wanted to help, David managed to get his Pokemon out of this misery.

However, at the point, where Farfetch'd's beak had been, was a small black hole now and Cubone walked to it. Inspecting it, the small lonely Pokemon patted with its bone onto the ground before several small cracks appeared around it.

"Cubone, please, don't do it!" David said quietly.

Despite his trainer's request, Cubone hit hard with its bone onto the ground before it broke completely.

Within a second, David, Farfetch'd and Cubone fell down into the darkness.

"David!" AJ shouted worriedly.

Everyone immediately ran to the edge of the hole to look where the boy and his Pokemon landed.

However, it was just too dark and nobody could notice anything down there. Flareon looked worriedly down, but at least, she could be sure that Jolteon comforted her with his presence.

"This ground is unusual thin and dry, but we shouldn't expect anything less from a wasteland like that." Brock noted.

"David, can you hear me?" AJ yelled down into the hole.

Deep down under the earth, David and his Pokemon laid on a hard ground. After a huge fall, the three were slightly dizzy, however, they noticed that they were within some kind of tunnel and that it leaded in multiple directions.

Unfortunately, his two Pokemon started another argument.

"That's enough!" David said harshly. "You didn't want to listen to me!"

The brunette took quickly Cubone's bone and Farfetch'd's leek away.

Strangely enough, the two Pokemon had a quick change of heart when they stood with puppy dog eyes in front of their trainer, pleading for their signatures items.

"You can look as sweet as you want, but if I give you your items back, you wouldn't learn anything from it!" David explained sternly, but his Pokemon already stood next to his legs, pulling on his jeans.

"I said 'No'!" David wouldn't change his opinion.

While David was arguing with his Pokemon, Brock's group needed to think about their next steps, because Max was still missing and David fell into some kind of hole. At the moment, AJ, Brock, Forretress, Bonsly, Marshtomp, Jolteon, Flareon and Munchlax stood around the opening.

"Apparently, the Digletts dug a lot of tunnels and some of them are even connected with the ground of the wasteland …" Brock explained thoughtfully.

"How can we get him out of this?" AJ wondered quietly.

Once again, Munchlax wanted to walk away to find something to eat, but this time, Bonsly stood in its way to prevent even more chaos.

Being annoyed, Munchlax just dropped onto its rear-end, which eventually caused a chain reaction.

More and more cracks appeared around the already huge hole and Brock sweatdropped slightly, knowing what would come next.

"Nobody moves a single muscle!" Brock ordered.

It didn't matter, because the ground gave away anyway and Brock's group 'followed' David into the Diglett tunnel system. Of course, t wasn't quiet when they fell into the tunnel and if you listened carefully, you could hear Munchlax's stomach growling.

David was still arguing with his Pokemon when he heard the screams of the others.

Out of nowhere, Munchlax, Marshtomp, Bonsly and the other Pokemon landed around him.

After a few seconds, Flareon, Jolteon and Brock crashed down as well, but that wasn't even the worst part, because David heard that someone else screamed as well.

Looking up, David didn't have a second until he held AJ within his arms in bridal style.

April was slightly caught off guard, but she was relieved that David caught her. Thanking him, AJ wrapped her arms around the boy's neck, but she didn't know that this didn't make things better.

"Thanks!" AJ said.

However, David didn't answer and his complete face was pale before he just fell down onto his back after he dropped AJ onto the ground. Nevertheless, everyone was at the same place and it didn't take much time until most individuals were up again.

"Is everyone okay?" Brock asked, trying to calm Bonsly down after the bonsai Pokemon started to cry.

All Pokemon nodded.

"Munch!" Munchlax was still hungry.

The sneaky Farfetch'd and Cubone immediately took back their items from their unconscious trainer.

"David!" AJ tried to wake up her teammate, but the brown-haired boy was out cold.

"What's wrong?" Brock asked puzzled.

"I don't know!" April replied worriedly. "Actually, David caught me when I fell down, but after that, he just blacked out for some reason and I don't know what to do!"

"Let me see!" Brock kneeled down to check on the boy, but actually, he couldn't see some sort of injury. "Well, he isn't hurt or anything, but it seems that he received a shock that caused him to lose his conscious."

"What do we do against that?" April asked unsurely.

"Marshtomp, use a small aqua gun on him!" Brock ordered.

Immediately, the water type shot some water into David's face and soon, the boy woke up again to spot all of the others. Of course, he kept distance between AJ and himself, but he could already see that Brock's group looked weirdly at him.

"What?" David asked sternly.

"Uh … nothing, although we are confused why you blacked out in the first place." Brock replied.

Some feet away from the group, Farfetch'd and Cubone started to fence and Cubone even put his free hand on his back to mock the bird.

Some water from David's face dropped onto the ground.

Out of nowhere, several Digletts appeared from the ground again and all of hem didn't look very pleased with their visitors. Surrounding the invaders, the group of Digletts didn't make it easy for our heroes to get away.

"Where's Max?" Brock asked with a serious voice.

Instead of answering, the Digletts approached the group even more until one of the Digletts was almost hit by a drop of water from David. Moving away, the Diglett became angry before it shot a Mud slap attack onto the boy.

"What did I do wrong?" David asked sternly, shielding his face with his hands.

"We only look for a friend!" AJ said quickly.

Now, multiple Digletts shot Mud Slap attacks onto the group and probably they wouldn't have stopped before another Pokemon appeared from the ground.

"Dugtrio!"

Strangely enough, the Digletts stopped with their attacks when the three-headed Pokemon appeared, but Brock noticed that it was an unusual large Dugtrio. Being four feet tall, the Pokemon could almost look into the eyes of AJ.

Removing some mud from their clothes, Brock's group hoped that it wouldn't happen again.

Dugtrio inspected the invaders and it seemed that he didn't have anything against Bonsly, Forretress, Brock, AJ, David, Munchlax, Cubone, Farfetch'd, Jolteon or Flaroen. However, when Dugtrio looked at Marshtomp, it became mad.

"Dug! Dug! Trio! Trio!"

Brock was slightly puzzled, but he understood quickly.

"You don't like water Pokemon, right?" Brock assumed.

Dugtrio looked sternly to Marshtomp.

"Marshtomp, it's perhaps better when I recall you as long as we are here." Brock explained and Marshtomp agreed hesitantly.

Indeed, as soon as Brock recalled his water-type, Dugtrio calmed down again and the ground-type Pokemon looked suspiciously to the rest of the group.

"Could you please show us where you brought that boy to?" Brock asked politely, hoping to get some help from Dugtrio and the Digletts.

Dugtrio didn't react at first.

* * *

May walked constantly along the road and she just looked unsurely onto the ground, trying to gather her thoughts that flew through her mind. Tints of red were visible on her cheeks and the brown-haired coordinator was lost in her thoughts.

_A Peck kiss on his cheek … why did I think that this would be the right time for it … why did I think that it would be important and why did I do it out of reflex … Maybe … I'm afraid that I don't have all the time of the world after that incident in the cave …_

"May! Could you please wait?" Ash yelled from behind and the raven-haired trainer tried to catch up with his teammate.

May's heart beat increased and she became very nervous. There was just one question within her head; How would Ash react to that peck kiss?

Stopping, May shivered.

"Thanks!" Ash said, panting slightly. "It would be terrible, if I lost you now!"

"Same here …" May replied quietly.

For a few moments, Ash just looked to May, but he didn't say a word. Apparently, he tried to figure out how to prevent an embarrassing conversation with the girl that was closer to him than at the beginning of the hunt.

"Well, you were right, May." Ash started and the brunette looked slightly to the trainer, surprised. "I like your swimsuit very much, however, you look always great and we should put our clothes back on before we continue the event."

_Did he just give me a compliment about my look? … _

Ash put his backpack onto the ground before he took all clothes out of it.

After Ash gave May her clothes, he looked onto a small watch that he had within his bag. Unfortunately, he noticed that they would need to hurry a lot, at least if they wanted to finish this game in time.

"It's almost 6 o'clock P.M.!" Ash said with slight concern.

Aipom looked unsurely to her trainer.

"Don't worry too much!" Ash said to his monkey. "We still have three hours until the end and I have such a feeling that we will find our second egg container soon."

May took her clothes, but she hesitated to put them on.

_Ash … why are you so complicated? … _

Quickly, Ash was dressed up again and he seemed as carefree as ever.

"Do you want to waste our time?" Ash said, confused.

"Of course not!" May replied before she put on her clothes.

Ash looked around before he spotted Butterfree and Beautifly on a branch of a tree. Apparently, the two bug-types watched something and the raven-haired trainer tilted his head. Unlike May, Ash didn't know about Beautifly's crush on his Pokemon.

"Butterfree and Beautifly seem to have become very good friends, huh?" Ash said, clueless.

May wasn't so dense and she noticed that the two butterflies sat very close to each other on that branch.

"I think they have become more than friends, Ash." May stated.

"What do you mean with that?" Ash was just too dense.

"Shouldn't you know? Your Butterfree already fell in love once, but there's no rule that says that he can't fall a second time." May explained.

"WHAT?" Ash exclaimed loudly, almost catching the butterflies' attention. " You mean … Butterfree and your Beautifly …"

"Beautifly seemed to have a crush on him since we first met him, but she hesitated to interact with him, especially after she heard that your Butterfree loved someone else." May explained coherently, although she would love that Ash would understand so much about love as well.

"Is it like that?" Ash said thoughtfully before he grew a smile. "I'm happy for him anyway."

Slowly but surely, the sun started to set.

"We are running out of time!" Ash noted.

Pikachu, Aipom and Eevee quickly dashed into the nearby woods to look for potential hideouts, but actually, it wouldn't bring anything to panic now.

"Butterfree! Beautifly!" Ash shouted and the two bug-types turned around to the trainer. "We - - -"

Suddenly, Ash realized that Butterfree looked sadly towards him and Beautifly didn't look very happy as well. Raising an eyebrow, Ash wondered what was wrong with them and unexpectedly, several Butterfrees appeared from the woods before they flew into the direction of the sunset.

May didn't notice it.

Looking to the bevy of butterflies, Butterfree knew that it would be difficult.

Now, Ash realized what was going on and he couldn't believe that it would need to happen that fast.

"Ash? What's wrong with you?" May asked, confused.

"I … I don't know how to tell you it, May …" Ash gulped. "Do you remember that I said that I released my Butterfree, so that he could follow the swarm of Butterfrees?"

"Yes …" May wasn't sure what to think about it.

"Look to the sky!" Ash said.

When May looked to the sky, she saw dozens of Butterfrees that flew all into the same direction before she looked to Ash's Butterfree and her Beautifly. Combining both aspects, May didn't want to think about it and she started to become sad.

"No … " May said quietly.

"I already wondered why Butterfree was here, because butterflies always travel between certain points to mate before they eventually return to the place where they met each other. After some time, they repeat it again." Ash explained slowly.

May shook repeatedly her head, because she knew what Ash wanted to say with that.

"No, Beautifly wouldn't leave me!" May told herself, suppressing some tears.

" … "Ash felt terrible for May.

Now, Butterfree and Beautifly flew down from the branch to their trainers. Both of them looked very sad as well and the returning Pikachu, Eevee and Aipom were confused why everyone was so depressed.

When Pikachu spotted the Butterfree movement, he started to feel sad as well.

"It's time, isn't it?" Ash explained sadly.

Butterfree didn't want to lie when some other Butterfrees flew above them.

May still shook her head, clenching her fists. Of course, she was happy for her Beautifly that she found her love, but why did she need to leave out of nowhere like that? May never ever had to release a Pokemon before and she didn't want to start with it now.

Beautifly flew slowly to the coordinator.

At first, May didn't want to say goodbye and she bit on her lips.

"Beautifly …" The butterfly said sadly her name.

Eevee looked with watered eyes to the bug-type that wanted to leave their team.

"Butterfree, I know that you have to follow your instinct and I wish you all the luck of the world. I know that we already split up for the second time, but you should know that it's not easier for me because of that, right now …" Ash said, looking down.

Pikachu's eyes watered up.

Ash then looked to May, who couldn't stop to cry.

"I'm sorry, May …" Ash said and Butterfree looked extremely sad to the group.

Suddenly, May hugged Beautifly and the coordinator just let everything out.

Beautifly cried as well, but she knew that it was normal for butterflies to follow the swarm. She knew that Butterfree was the right one, but she just wasn't prepared to let her trainer alone. Several moments passed and the two friends enjoyed each other's warmth.

Eevee, Pikachu and Aipom sat silently around them.

" … You can't imagine how much luck I wish you as well … you were the first Pokemon that I caught … However, I know that I can't force you to stay, just like Ash can't force Butterfree …" May said between several sobs.

May remembered some moments that she had together with Beautifly, from her time as Wurmple to Silcoon and how they had multiple contest together. There were just too many nice experiences and May just couldn't stop to sob.

Ash noticed that most Butterfrees were already away.

"We need to let them go …" Ash said, feeling sad that he needed to separated May and Beautifly right now.

Butterfree looked at May and Beautifly before he looked even more sadly to the ground.

Releasing her bug from her hug, May stepped two steps to the back before she slowly took Beautifly's Pokeball from her fanny pack. It was necessary to free her butterfly from the Pokeball, but May noticed that the sphere felt as heavy as a bowling ball.

Shivering, May's arm pointed the Pokeball at Beautifly.

_It has to be … I know how important love can be and Beautifly deserves to be happy … _

May hesitated to release Beautifly.

**End of the chapter!**

* * *

**This chapter contained some nice events, although some of them seemed rushed. For everyone who wants to know; the story will have 15 or 16 chapters, which means that you have to read some more. **

**I don't know if the story deserves more reviews, but there's something that tells me that it will pay off for me in the end. **

**See you later!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Actually, I'm quite sad that I'm not fluent at English, because it's difficult for me to express my ideas with the diversity of words that I would need. I'm still upset that I haven't found some sort of friend on this website, but let's hope for the best.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Signs of Easter**

May just wanted to push the button of her Pokeball to release Beautifly into the wildlife again, so that she could follow Butterfree and the other butterflies on their journey. However, before she could so, May's arm was pushed down and the brunette was puzzled.

"Who?" May was confused.

Everyone was surprised to see that Butterfree prevented May to release her Pokemon.

The Kanto butterfly flew silently in front of May, seemingly thinking about this whole scenario as well.

"Butterfree, what are you doing?" Ash said, shocked. "If you don't leave with Beautifly now, you won't be able to follow the swarm."

However, Butterfree shook his head, relinquishing the journey with the other Butterfrees.

Beautifly didn't know what to think, because she loved Butterfree and she feared that Butterfree would leave without her then. On the other hand, it was just too short-termed and Beautifly actually didn't want to choose between Butterfree and her trainer.

Pikachu, Aipom and Eevee tried to read the butterfly's facial expression.

"It's nice from you to care for me, Butterfree, but I don't want to stand in your way …" May explained sadly, knowing that Butterfree only did that for her. "I want that Beautifly and you are together, even if that means that we won't see each other again that soon."

Once again, Butterfree looked to the last Pokemon of his kind that flew in the sky.

Far in the distance, Butterfree assumed that his former girlfriend would go onto the journey with her new love as well, however, Butterfree wanted to go onto another journey.

"Butterfree, you can make Beautifly happy and if she is happy, I'll be happy as well ..." May said with a mix of sadness and happiness. Again, May lifted her Pokeball to release Beautifly, but again, Butterfree pushed her hand down to prevent it.

" … "May was puzzled.

Now, Butterfree flew to Beautifly before he discussed something with her and strangely enough, Beautifly's expression changed to a happy one and her eyes sparkled. Talking with each other, the two butterflies confused everyone else.

Apparently, Butterfree asked many questions and Beautifly answered quickly.

Ash looked to Pikachu, but the rodent listened carefully to the conversation.

Eventually, Beautifly flew to May before she landed on the brunette's head.

Butterfree did the same and landed on Ash's head.

Meanwhile, there weren't any Butterfrees on the sky anymore.

"Butterfree?" Ash was slightly confused, but he tried to interpret his Pokemon's actions. "Are you staying with us to be together with Beautifly, although you won't be able to follow your swarm anymore?"

Butterfree nodded.

Pikachu, Eevee and Aipom grew a smile and the Pokemon immediately gathered around the trainers to show their happiness. It would have been extremely sad if Beautifly and Butterfree had left the group now, especially after their successful fight against Crystal Onix.

May started to sob again.

"May, aren't you happy that they stay with us?" Ash asked carefully.

"*sniff* … of course, I'm happy that we don't have to split up …" May wiped some tears away. "It's just … so touching that Butterfree chose us over his swarm …"

"It's touching …" Ash repeated the words. "As long as we are together, everyone will be happy."

"Yeah, together …" May thought about those words, smiling.

It had been some emotional minutes where sadness turned into happiness again and it seemed that Butterfree would be a permanent member of Ash's team again. Enjoying the moment, the group completely forgot that they needed to finish something first.

* * *

With Team Rocket

* * *

It was unbelievable why Team Rocket hadn't found an egg container yet, although they were in the ownership of the map with their locations. James, Jesse, Mime Jr. and Meowth were within a mountainous area and they already needed several hours to cross it.

"According to the map, we should find an egg somewhere here." James said, scratching the back of his head.

Unfortunately, Jesse and Meowth almost crawled along the way and the duo spotted bruises, scratches and several other injuries that they received thanks to James's leadership.

"Mime Jr. Mime Jr."

Suddenly, Meowth spotted something when he peeked over James's shoulder.

"Did you hold the map like that the whole time?" Meowth exclaimed.

"Of course!" James said enthusiastically.

"You blockhead! You were holding it upside down for the whole time!" Meowth ticked off and unfortunately, Jesse heard it as well.

"What?!" Jesse jumped at her blue-haired teammate before she took the egg map away from the incompetent Rocket member. After a small fight, the roles were switched, so that Jesse and Meowth would lead the group and James would need to look for the eggs.

"It just had started to become funny …" James said, disappointed.

"Mime Mime Jr." Mime Jr. mimicked his trainer again.

Jesse and the cat inspected the map and soon, they found a promising place where a rare egg could be located.

* * *

May wiped her last tears away and she was overwhelmed by her emotions, but she was happy that she could become so emotional for her Pokemon, which showed that she really loved them. Standing in the middle of a road, the group couldn't be any happier.

Once again, it was Aipom, who notified the group about their task.

"I know that we need to continue with the egg hunt, Aipom, but we should give May some time - - -" Ash wanted to explain.

"I'm fine, Ash!" May said quickly, smiling at the group. "We're together and we'll finish this egg hunt together; there's no way that I'll be the reason that we fail."

"Well, then we should hurry if we want to see, which Pokemon is within your egg container." Ash replied enthusiastically.

The whole group agreed.

Butterfree and Beautifly flew in front of the group, although they cuddled several times.

Pikachu and Eevee walked side by side in front of their trainers and the two Pokemon seemed to become better friends with every minute.

Needless to say that Aipom jumped across the branches of the trees.

Looking at the butterflies, May played with the thought to tell Ash about her feelings, but she wasn't sure if it was such a good idea. Ash didn't comment on her peck kiss and she just struggled with her thoughts that started to torture her again.

_Beautifly and Butterfree are together … a few hours ago, Beautifly was just like me; unsure and having a crush on someone … I shouldn't be such a coward, should I? … My Pokemon did what I'm not able to do … However, if I tell Ash now, it could distract him from the hunt and that would be horrible … _

"I'm curious how Brock and Max are doing …" Ash said casually.

_Come on, May! … Give yourself a deadline … I'll tell Ash as soon as we are back at the starting point … No, that's too late … as soon as we found the second egg container … however, what if we don't find a second one in time? … it's so complicated _

"Butterfree, could you lead us along a way that's new, but that leads us into the south again? Slowly, but surely, we need to think about our way back." Ash explained slowly and thoughtfully.

"Don't put yourself under pressure, Ash." May said with a comforting voice.

_Don't put yourself under pressure? What do I do then? … _May facepalmed mentally.

"You're right, May, but it would be a shame to finish this event without winning two Pokemon eggs."

Suddenly, the group reached another promising spot and it consisted of a huge hill of this mountain area that was covered with grassland. It looked beautiful, because there were several Easter flowers, like daffodils, tulips, crocus and many other flowers.

May clasped her hands together, admiring this sight.

"I completely forgot that Easter can create such beautiful landscapes!" May exclaimed heavenly.

"We should really pay more attention to Easter in the future." Ash said casually.

Moreover, several parts of this hill were covered with high Easter grass as well and it became obvious that this place would be an ideal hideout for an egg.

"I think there's nothing to lose!" Ash exclaimed enthusiastically. "If we don't find an egg container here, I'll marry a Mew!"

_If we don't find an egg, I wish I could be a Mew … _May thought silently.

Immediately, Aipom dashed through the high grass to look for the egg container. Of course, Eevee and Pikachu helped her with that task, but unfortunately, Eevee, as childish as she is, started a small hide and seek game with the rodent.

"Butterfree! Beauti - - -" Ash's mouth was covered by May.

"Don't ruin their romantic moment!" May said sternly.

Indeed, the two butterflies circled around each other, flying across the field of flowers.

"Well, you're the romance expert." Ash said with a smile, chuckling.

May was surprised to hear that, but she wished that Ash would know as much as she did about this.

"Then it's up to us to look through the field and I fear that the sun will disappear behind the horizon within the next hour." Ash explained.

Without wasting too much time, Ash looked through the first Easter grass.

May looked dreamy to the boy.

"Hey, May! Do we want to bet that I find the second egg earlier than you?" Ash said, wanting to share some fun time with his friend.

"That's not a competition within a competition, Ash …" May said seriously. " … however, if it were, I would win anyway!"

Forgetting her problems for some time, May just wanted to have fun with Ash and the brown-haired coordinator held her egg container firmly within her arms before she started to look quickly through the whole field as well.

Aipom was more serious and the Pokemon became impatient.

Nevertheless, she made sure that she wouldn't damage any flowers.

Eevee and Pikachu still searched playfully through the Easter grass.

"Come on, Scott! You wouldn't waste the chance to hide an egg within such a place, would you?" Ash talked to himself when he pushed some grass away.

Suddenly, Ash spotted another color within some Easter grass and the trainer celebrated mentally that he finally found something. At first, he wanted to call for May, but perhaps, he could surprise her with his discovery.

After he pushed the grass to the side, Ash was dumbfounded.

"Uh … well, that's not an egg container …" Ash said quietly, disappointed.

Whatever it was; it wasn't something that Ash knew, at least not from that perspective. That thing in front of him was dark pink and it had a strange form, so it wasn't surprising that Ash scratched his head.

"That's really a weird flower." Ash explained.

However, this flower suddenly moved and it almost looked as if it was shaking.

Raising an eyebrow, Ash looked closer to this thing before he touched something that looked like a small foot.

Now, this 'thing" started to shake even more and Ash could swear that he even heard something.

"Hmm …" Ash wondered before he decided to get this thing out of the earth.

The raven-haired trainer grabbed the thing before he pulled with all of his might. Putting his whole weight against the ground, Ash didn't know why it was so difficult to pull a flower out of the earth, however, slowly but surely, the object moved.

"Come out finally!" Ash demanded.

Finally, the thing was all the way out and Ash tripped over his own leg before he dropped onto his back.

"Ouch …" Ash squeezed his eyes in pain, but as soon as he opened them again, something landed on his face.

The noises caught May's attention and the brunette immediately walked to Ash's side of the field to look if everything was alright. When she saw Ash on the ground, she walked to him before she noticed the creature on Ash's face.

Looking to the brunette, the Pokemon seemed to be intimidated.

"Nidoran!"

"Oh, who are you?" May said sweetly, kneeling down to the Pokemon.

However, it immediately went some feet away before it turned to the girl again. Apparently, Nidoran wasn't used to humans, but for some reason it didn't run away completely.

"So it was a Nidoran, huh?" Ash said, rubbing his forehead. "I can't believe that I confused him with a flower, but I'm happy that I could get him out of this hole."

May suppressed her urge to remind Ash that he had already confused her chest with Pikachu today.

"I just wonder how he got into that hole in the first place." May said thoughtfully. "I doubt that he's the Easter bunny."

Out of nowhere, Eevee and Pikachu appeared behind Nidoran before they tilted their heads to look at the Pokemon.

When he noticed them, the male Nidoran covered his eyes with his paws, shaking in fear.

"Apparently, he isn't very brave, but actually, he doesn't have to be afraid." Ash said before he kneeled down as well. "Nidoran, you don't have to be afraid and we don't want to harm you in any way. We just look through this field in search for an egg container and after that, we'll leave again."

Now, Nidoran removed one paw from his face.

"Pika ChuChu Pi Kachu Chupi Pikapi?" Pikachu tried to start a conversation with the fearful Pokemon.

"Nido?" The small rabbit-like Pokemon replied unsurely.

"Leave it to Pikachu to earn the trust of other Pokemon." Ash said, smiling.

Apparently, Nidoran started to chat with Pikachu and the rodent tilted its head several times. After a short chat, Pikachu seemed to understand why Nidoran was here at all and why he was stuck in that hole before Ash found him.

Pikachu quickly explained the situation to his trainer.

"Well, let me repeat! Nidoran looks for a friend and during his search, he got stuck in that hole, right?" Ash repeated the very short story.

Pikachu nodded.

"He looks for something as well. What a coincidence." May said quietly.

"To be honest, we're in a hurry, but when we are finished with our search here, we'll be glad to help you on your search for your friend!" Ash said happily before he once again kneeled down to the rabbit.

Unfortunately, Nidoran was still not very fond of humans.

Luckily, Pikachu explained it to Nidoran and the dark-pink rabbit was slightly confused why those humans wanted to help him.

"Come on, May!" Ash said, motioning to his friend to keep going. "There's still a lot of field that we need to look through and we don't want to disappoint Aipom, do we?"

* * *

With Brock

* * *

Brock, AJ, David and their Pokemon followed Dugtrio through the system of tunnels and apparently, the three-headed Pokemon would lead them to Max. It was quite dark within the tunnels, but fortunately, April's Jolteon knew Flash to support the humans with light.

"I'm happy that Dugtrio believed us!" Brock said casually.

"There wasn't a reason to not believe us." AJ replied before she looked around. "It's just amazing what all the Digletts and Dugtrios managed to achieve."

"Yeah, but there's still the question why they need a small boy like your teammate then." David said, scratching the back of his head. "Whatsoever; does someone has a watch?"

Brock walked some steps to Jolteon before he looked onto his watch.

"It's shortly past six." Brock answered.

"ALREADY SIX!" David exclaimed. "That's late and it will be difficult to find a second egg container within the remaining time."

Bonsly, Munchlax, Forretress, Cubone and Farfetch'd followed the group silently.

After the fifth crossroads, David became slightly impatient, especially when AJ wanted to hold hands within this dark cave. Unfortunately, Cubone and Farfetch'd started to argue again and that was really the last thing that the group needed.

"If you don't stop with your argument, I'll recall you into your Pokeballs!" David threatened.

Both Pokemon looked innocently to their trainer, but of course, it was just acting.

"One of you will walk with me in front of the group and the other one will have to walk behind the group! It's up to you to decide who walks where!" David ordered sternly before he continued to walk along the way.

Of course, both Pokemon wanted to be with the leader.

However, Cubone stood exactly next to Farfetch'd and the small Pokemon poked with his bone onto Farfetch'd's shoulder and the bird turned around to see who it was. Unfortunately, it was just a trick by Cubone and the bone Pokemon already claimed the spot in front of the group.

Not surprising that Farfetch'd was pissed off by that.

Eventually, the group reached a larger undermining and at least, there were some holes within the top that provided them with light.

"I don't know what you want from me! …"

Brock remembered that voice and one second later, he saw Max within the cave, but for some reason, he was surrounded by Digletts, Sandshrews and Sandslashs.

"Hey, Max!" Brock called for the boy.

As soon as Max heard the voice of his teammate, he sighed in relieve, because he was obviously overstrained with the situation.

"Thank Mew that you are here, Brock!" Max exclaimed.

When the Digletts saw the huge Dugtrio, they immediately went to him before they explained everything.

Flareon, Jolteon and the other Pokemon looked amazed around.

Now, Dugtrio approached the group of Sandshrews and their evolution before he started to 'yell' at them for some reason. The Sandshrews yelled back and it seemed that the Pokemon had some differences that couldn't be solved by talking.

"You can't imagine how happy I am that you found me, Brock." Max said, standing in front of his teammate, however, he then spotted some new Pokemon. "Wow, that are a Flareon, a Cubone and a Farfetch'd! Whose Pokemon are they?"

"They are my Pokemon." David said casually.

"Who are you? … - - - wait! You are April's teammate, aren't you?" Max noted.

"Basically yes, but it would be nice if you explain to us what's going on here." David said, pointing to the arguing Pokemon.

"To be honest, I don't know what they want from me. At first, they brought me to this cave before they put me in front of the Sandshrews and Sandslashs and after that, they started to argue." Max explained coherently, shrugging.

Suddenly, some Digletts appeared under Max before they brought him once again to the argument.

"Sandshrew! Sandshrew!"

"Trio! Trio! Trio!"

Brock's group approached them.

"I already told you that I don't know what you want from me!" Max said desperately.

Out of nowhere, more Digletts appeared and this time they brought the rest of the group between the fronts. Unfortunately, it was too loud to understand your own thoughts, but it seemed that the Digletts pushed Brock's group towards the Sandshrews.

Luckily, Cubone wasn't stupid and the skull-wearing Pokemon understood the problem.

"Cubone! Bone! Cu Cu!"

"Apparently Cubone knows the problem!" David noted.

"Can you understand him?" Brock asked hopefully.

"That's not necessary, because Cubone can tell us the information via drawing." David said casually.

"Could you please stop to push us?" AJ said sweetly, pleading the Digletts for some minutes time.

Fortunately, the small Pokemon agreed, because Dugtrio ordered them to and the three-headed Diglett gave the kids some time. Even the Sandshrews and Sandslashs calmed down a bit and now, it was Cubone's time to shine.

Cubone started to draw something into the sand with his bone.

"Did you teach him to draw like that?" Brock asked curiously.

"No, but he's very talented and he wouldn't waste a chance to outdo Farfetch'd somehow." David answered.

Indeed, Farfetch'd crossed his wings and the bird pretended that he wasn't impressed with his fellow Pokemon's work.

After some minutes, Cubone seemed to be finished and the small lonely Pokemon motioned to his trainer to look at the drawing. Everyone looked at this 'masterpiece', but not everyone was able to interpret it.

"It seems that this big circle is supposed to be this cave of the Digletts and I have to admit that Cubone drew the Digletts very well." David explained the drawing on the ground.

"That are the Sandshrews, right?" AJ pointed to anther element of the picture.

"Exactly, but according to the arrow, it seems that they invaded the cave of the Digletts and of course, Dugtrio and his friends aren't happy about that at all." David explained further.

"Is that supposed to be me?" Max pointed to a strange element, sweatdropping.

"To draw humans has never been Cubone's strength, but I assume that this stickmen is you … somehow." David scratched his head. "There's a small point that comes out of your hand and it seems that the Digletts wanted you to chase the Sandshrews away or that you catch all of them."

"I'm not even a trainer yet." Max said.

"Tell that the Digletts, but we know now that the Digletts and the Sandshrews argue about this cave." David finished, crossing his arms.

"According to Cubone's picture, it were the Digletts that dug the cave and the tunnels, that's why it's their home, isn't it?" AJ said thoughtfully.

"We shouldn't judge too early!" Brock bugged in.

"What do you mean, Brock?" Max asked clueless.

"I mean that there has to be a reason why all the Sandshrews and Sandslashs came to this cave." Brock said knowingly. "David, could you tell your Cubone that he should tell the Sandshrews that they should lead us to their old home?"

"Well …" David looked to his Pokemon. "Could you do that, Cubone?"

Of course, the small Pokemon positioned himself in front of the Sandshrews, but before he could say something, Farfetch'd kicked him away and now it was the bird that asked the Pokemon to lead them to their old cave.

Confused, the Sandshrews looked at each other.

Fortunately, they decided to lead Brock's group to their old cave.

On their way out of the cave, the Sandshrews were insulted by some Digletts.

"Stop to shout at them!" Max said sternly, looking directly to them. "If you had some problems with your home, you would love to get some help as well, wouldn't you?"

The Digletts were slightly intimidated.

Leaving through another tunnel, Brock, David, AJ, Max and their Pokemon followed the Sandshrews and they wondered what could have chased them away from their old home. Unfortunately, with every passing second, the end of the egg hunt came closer and closer.

* * *

Ash's search for another egg hadn't been very successful and the raven-haired trainer started to doubt that he would find one around here.

Sitting down on top of the small hill, Ash thought about some things.

"Why do you stop with your search?" May asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing! Really!" Ash responded quickly. "It's just that we have experienced so much during the egg hunt that it would be sad to finish it with empty hands."

Now, May sat down next to Ash and the brunette put the egg container next to her.

"Even if we don't win two Pokemon eggs, we will still have the nice experience on this event and you shouldn't forget that Butterfree and Beautifly would never have found each other if it weren't during the egg hunt." May explained happily.

"You're right, May." Ash admitted.

Actually, it was quite romantic, because the teammates sat within a field of flowers and the sunset looked as beautiful as always. Of course, May played with the thought to use the pretty scenario to her advantage.

"Do you think that we have become closer today?" May asked carefully.

"Of course!" Ash replied naively. "There has been so many events today that it's impossible to forget them and with the additional experience, we'll grow even closer."

Pikachu and Eevee looked through some more hideouts, but they weren't lucky at all.

Nidoran watched them from some distance and the small rabbit was still not sure what to think about them. Normally, he should look for his friend, but for some odd reason, Nidoran believed Ash's words that he would help him.

Suddenly, May pulled her knees to her chest.

"Do you remember that I wanted to ask you a question when we had this break at the lake after we found our first egg?" May asked carefully.

"I think so, but didn't Aipom interrupted you before you could ask?" Ash replied, leaning backwards on his arms.

Obviously, May became nervous again and the brown-haired coordinator played with her fingers.

Aipom was still busy with her search and the monkey almost skipped every stone within this area, but she wouldn't give up. Meanwhile, she had reached the edge of the forest again and the purple Pokemon spotted two trees that seemed like mirror images of each other.

Between them was high Easter grass again.

Aipom had nothing to lose and she jumped into the Easter grass.

After she walked some feet, Aipom pushed the last Easter grass to the side.

Finally, she saw another egg container and the monkey couldn't believe that she found it eventually.

Jumping up and down, Aipom celebrated her discovery before she wanted to take the egg container with her. When she lifted the container off the ground, the monkey realized that someone pulled from the other side.

Looking around the container, Aipom looked into the eyes of another Pokemon.

"What are you doing here?" Meowth exclaimed, shocked.

**End of the chapter!**

* * *

**This chapter was more about the bonds between the teammates than about action, but actually, you should be used to that by now. Personally, I'm satisfied with the chapter, because I can imagine the scene and the location perfectly. **

**Apparently, Aipom found the second egg container, but now, it could lead to the first collision of Ash's group and Team Rocket. **

**See you later!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Like I said, this story is written like an Anime episode, which means that you have to read it like one. The end won't consist of a world-changing moment or fight, that's why you should enjoy the last chapters of this story as much as possible. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

**Chapter 12: He's doing it again ...**

* * *

Meowth and Aipom stood at the opposite ends of the egg container, but both Pokemon wouldn't release their grip on it. Pulling from both sides, they had a small thug-o-war game with the container, but unfortunately, no one seemed to be much stronger than the other.

"I waz here firzt!" Meowth claimed harshly.

However, Aipom didn't have the same opinion and she reached with her tail around the container before she slapped Meowth across the face, pushing him away in the process.

"Hey!" The cat-Pokemon wasn't very happy right now.

Now, James and Jesse appeared behind some bushes to spot their third member.

"Did you finally find something?" Jesse asked, annoyed.

Finally, Aipom realized that she confronted Team Rocket right now, that's why she immediately took the egg before she dashed away through the high Easter grass again.

"Don't let her get away!" Meowth exclaimed.

Following the monkey, the trio of bad guys tried several times to catch Aipom, but the purple Pokemon avoided stylishly every attempt to take the egg away from her. Running back to the hill where Ash and May were, Aipom knew that they needed this egg.

However, Aipom and the container were suddenly lifted off the ground.

"Gotcha!" Jesse said triumphantly.

Running in the air, Aipom hang at the bottom of the container.

"Aipom! Aip! Pom Pom!"

"Isn't that the Pokemon of the twerp?" Jesse asked, looking at the purple monkey.

"At least, she's as energetic as his one." James added.

Once again, Aipom lifted her tail before she gave Jesse a huge slap across her 'beautiful' face.

"How can you dare?" Jesse wasn't nice to individuals that damaged her face, so she shook the egg container until Aipom fell to the ground. Shaking her head, Aipom wasn't finished and she would do everything to get the container back.

Releasing a swift attack, Aipom aimed for Jesse's hands and the red-haired woman had no other choice than to drop it to the ground where Aipom already waited to catch it again.

"Just wait!" Jesse warned before she took one of her Pokeballs. "Seviper, time to teach this indecent monkey some respect!"

The snake materialized, hissing loudly.

"Seviper, stop this monkey!" Jesse ordered.

Immediately, Seviper moved towards the monkey before she wrapped her tail around Aipom's waist to stop her. Squeezing the poor Pokemon, Seviper seemed to enjoy it and thanks to her, the egg container dropped down onto the ground before it rolled to Meowth.

"I wonder where the trainer-twerp is." James wondered, crossing his arms and of course, Mime Jr. copied that behavior.

"Who cares?" Jesse replied unconcernedly, shrugging. "If you haven't been that bad at reading maps, we would have already found more egg containers. There's no way that such a stupid monkey will come between us and our first money-making egg!"

"That'z right!" Meowth exclaimed, taking the first egg container.

Aipom tried to fight against the wrap attack, but she couldn't even shout for help.

* * *

Further away, Ash and May still sat on the small hill, surrounded by several Easter flowers. Taking a short break, the teammates had started a conversation and actually, May hoped that she could finally ask Ash the most important question.

"You wanted to know what has been on my mind for the whole time, right?" May said shyly.

"As long as you're okay with it, you can tell me everything, May." Ash replied naively. "I can keep secrets, give advices, cheer you up or just listen to your problems."

"Well, here we go!" May said quietly, taking a huge breath.

Suddenly, Pikachu's ears twitched and the rodent looked uneasily around before he heard Aipom's weak calls for help. When he dashed to his trainer, Pikachu caught the attention of Eevee and the small fox was completely puzzled.

"PIKAPI!" Pikachu exclaimed, loudly.

Interrupting May's confession, the electro-type waved its small arms.

"What's up, pal? Did you find something?" Ash asked casually.

May looked to the ground, knowing that she wouldn't be able to confess right now.

Shaking his head, Pikachu motioned to his trainer to follow him before he dashed down from the hill and into the direction of some trees. Understanding that there were some problems, Ash stood up as well, but before he left, he turned to May again.

"I'm sorry, May, but it seems that we need to shift our conversation to another time." Ash said guiltily.

"Okay …" May almost whispered before she stood slowly up as well, taking her egg container with her.

Beautifly and Butterfree seemed to be somewhere else right now. However, the small Nidoran looked curiously to the humans and after a few seconds, he decided to follow them to that new place, hoping that his friend would be there as well.

Pikachu led his group down from the hill to the cause of the calls for help.

After a short sprint, the rodent dashed through some bushes before he entered another clearing where he spotted familiar individuals. Unfortunately, Jesse, James and Meowth spotted the rodent as well and there was no way that they wouldn't recognize the electro-type again.

"That'z Pikachu!" Meowth exclaimed.

A few seconds later, Ash dashed through the bushes as well before he saw the scene as well.

"Team Rocket!" Ash said angrily.

"The twerp!" Team Rocket exclaimed, surprised.

Now, May and Eevee arrived at the clearing, too and both of them were visibly surprised to see their foes during this hunt.

When Ash saw how Seviper squeezed his Aipom, he became even angrier.

"What have you done to Aipom?" Ash asked madly.

Actually, Team Rocket didn't need any problems with the twerps, because they weren't here because of Pikachu, but the Pokemon eggs. Thinking about an excuse, Jesse waved with her forefinger towards Ash before she explained her 'version' of the story.

"We haven't done anything to your Pokemon!" Jesse claimed. "However, your bad Aipom tried to steal our egg container that we rightfully found during this egg hunt!"

Ash became puzzled.

"That'z right! We compete at thiz game as well and you can be happy if we don't notify the judgez about your attempted rob!" Meowth added, laughing mentally about this super excuse.

"That's a lie!" May exclaimed, staring at the trio. "I didn't see you at the starting point or during the announcement!"

"Do you think that's reason enough to distrust us?" Jesse countered, smirking.

"Even if it isn't, we don't need a prove, because we know that you don't plan anything good!" May said sternly.

"May's right!" Ash added. "Even if you compete officially at this egg hunt, we know that you wouldn't care well for the Pokemon eggs at all!"

Pikachu and Eevee agreed with their trainers and they already took their fight poses.

Nidoran looked out from one of the bushes, being frightened by the bad individuals of Team Rocket.

"So what? Do you really want to attack another team of the egg hunt?" Jesse said with a wide smirk.

Unexpectedly, James's Cacnea popped out of her Pokeball before she started to cuddle with her trainer like always. Trying to push her away, James and Mime Jr. were busy enough, but actually, that wasn't anything new.

"You can have your monkey back." Jesse said, showing off before Seviper tossed the exhausted Aipom to Ash, who immediately checked on her.

"Wobbuf~~fet!" Jesse's Pokemon popped out of his Pokeball as well to salute.

Ash growled slightly.

However, May seemed to be unsure and the brown-haired coordinator started to count.

"Ash!" May exclaimed unexpectedly. "They have five Pokemon with them! Meowth, Cacnea, Wobbuffet, Seviper and Mime Jr."

"Uh … you're right! Well, that can only mean that they didn't let some of their Pokemon with Officer Jenny and that they aren't participants at all!" Ash combined the facts, although it had been obvious from the very beginning.

Pissed off, Jesse recalled Wobbuffet.

"I knew that you wouldn't play after the rules!" Ash said angrily. "Give the egg container to us!"

"You don't expect that we would give you it without any resistance, do you?" Meowth responded.

"James, stop to cuddle with your Pokemon and help us to silence the twerps!" Jesse shouted sternly to the blue-haired Team Rocket member, who was still busy with Cacnea.

"Aipom, you need to take a break! Don't worry! May and I will handle them." Ash said to his monkey when he placed Aipom onto the ground behind them, although she wasn't happy about it.

Unfortunately, Beautifly and Butterfree were still away and that meant that it would be just Eevee and Pikachu against Team Rocket.

Ash looked shortly to May and the brunette nodded, knowing that her friend wanted to know if she was ready. Normally, it shouldn't be such a problem to beat Team Rocket again.

"Let's start with a Quick attack!" Ash ordered.

"Follow Pikachu and use Tackle!" May ordered her Eevee.

Both Pokemon immediately increased their speed to dash towards their opponents.

"Seviper, bite them as hard as you can!" Jesse ordered quickly, clenching her fists.

However, Pikachu dodged the Bite attack before he rammed the snake with his whole body. As if it wasn't enough, Eevee appeared behind the rodent before she jumped over him to hit a Tackle attack on Seviper and the poor snake couldn't do anything, but to move some feet to the back.

Finally, James could pull Cacnea away from his body before he threw her to his opponents.

"Use Pin Missile to fight back!" James ordered, covering some bruises on his face.

Almost ready to please her trainer, Cacnea immediately shot several needles towards Pikachu and Eevee.

Dodging several needles, Pikachu only waited for the next order of his trainer. Looking to the rodent, Eevee copied every movement of Pikachu and apparently, she also had fun doing so. After some time, the needle attack was over and Cacnea seemed slightly exhausted.

Like always, Team Rocket weren't the best trainers.

"Put them on the shelf with Poison tail!" Jesse ordered next, biting on her lips.

Aiming for Eevee, the snake enveloped its tail with poison before it hit towards the small fox.

"Use Dig to avoid it, Eevee!" May shouted intently.

"Use this opening for an Iron tail, Pikachu!" Ash followed up and the next steps happened very fast. At first, Eevee vanished under the earth and Seviper rammed its tail into the ground before she was hit hard on the head by Pikachu's Iron tail. Swinging its tail, Pikachu threw Seviper into the direction of her trainer and the poison-type landed hard on the ground.

Now, Eevee appeared from a hole again, waiting for the next order.

"Ruin their sight with Sandstorm!" James ordered.

Immediately, Cacnea caused a huge sandstorm that went across the battlefield and everyone had to shield its eyes from the sand. Peeking through the gap between his fingers, Ash thought about an idea to end this storm.

Jesse, James and Meowth actual believed that they could win right now.

Suddenly, another strong wind appeared and soon the sandstorm enveloped Seviper, Cacnea and their trainers.

Surprised, May and Ash looked to the side where they spotted Beautifly and Butterfree and the two bug-types used whirlwind to shoot the attack back onto the attacker. Of course, Ash's group was happy to see them here.

"Perfect timing, you two!" Ash said with a smile.

Wiping some sand away, James and Jesse didn't expect the butterflies here.

"You'll pay for that! Seviper, use Poison tail again!" Jesse shouted.

"Aid Seviper with Needle arm, Cacnea!" James added quickly.

Dashing towards Pikachu and Eevee again, the snake and the cactus prepared their attacks. Of course, it wouldn't end well for them, but Team Rocket never learned from their failures.

"Beautifly, silver wind to hold them back and Eevee, shadow ball!" May ordered enthusiastically.

"Butterfree, support Beautifly with gust and Pikachu, use Iron tail once again!" Ash said.

Butterfree's gust and Beautifly's silver wind shot across the field and they prevented Seviper and Cacnea to reach the other Pokemon. Creating a huge ball in front of her mouth, Eevee shot a Shadow ball towards Seviper and as soon as it hit, it pushed the snake directly onto her trainer.

Pikachu did a front flip before he smashed his Iron tail onto Cacnea and the cactus crashed right onto its trainer again.

"Follow it up with thunder bolt, Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, wanting to finish their routine.

Meowth sat up again in the pile of Rocket members and unfortunately, the cat still had the egg container with him. When Ash noticed that, he knew that he shouldn't risk anything.

"Pikachu, stop!" Ash said loudly and his rodent stopped to generate electricity.

"Why do you stop, Ash?" May asked unsurely.

"They still have that egg container and I can't risk that something happens to it." Ash said, crunching with his teeth.

Butterfree, Beautifly, Aipom, Pikachu and Eevee didn't know what to do.

When Meowth noticed that, the cat knew that they hadn't lost yet and the pre-evolution of Persian immediately extended his claws to put them next to the egg container. Nobody knew how robust the container was, but Ash didn't want to test it.

"It seemz that you aren't as good as you think!" Meowth said, laughing slightly. "Either you're giving us your egg container or you'll risk that something bad happens to this Pokemon egg!"

James and Jesse had recovered as well and the two humans were slightly surprised that Meowth could be such an evil Pokemon, although they knew that he wouldn't do anything to harm this egg. However, as long as Ash and his group believed it, it was a perfect strategy.

"What should we do now, Ash?" May looked unsurely to the trainer.

Ash wasn't sure.

* * *

With Brock & Max

* * *

Apparently, the tunnel system of the Sandshrews was located next to the one of the Digletts and sometime, the two systems seemed to have collided with each other. However, there was still the question why the Sandshrews wanted to have the tunnels of the Digletts as well.

On their way through the tunnel, AJ decided to ask her Pokedex for some information.

"_Sandshrew, the ground mouse Pokemon! Burrows deep underground in arid locations far from water. It only emerges to hunt for food! If threatened, it curls itself up into a ball for protection."_

Now, AJ pointed her device at one of the Sandslashs.

"_Sandslash, the evolution of Sandshrew! It curls into a ball of sharp spikes and rolls into enemies. It is also adept at slashing with its sharp claws. "_

"Well, that wasn't something new." David said casually after he heard the descriptions_. _

"I think it's useful to know that about them." AJ responded, determined.

Max held his egg container firmly in his arms, although he kept an eye on Munchlax, just like Bonsly and Forretress. It looked cute how Jolteon and Flareon chatted with each other, but unfortunately, Farfetch'd and Cubone were the exact opposites of that.

Suddenly, the Sandshrews became slower and it seemed that they almost stopped.

"What's wrong?" Brock asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are we already at your home cave?"

"It's again too dark!" AJ noted. "Jolteon, could you help us once more?"

Of course, the electro-type used a weak Flash attack to light up the surroundings and suddenly, it became obvious why the Sandshrews left their old home. Immediately, the Sandshrews took a step to the back.

"Well …" Max looked at this scene.

Actually, the cave seemed to be large enough for all the Sandshrews and apparently, a small way would lead down to the bottom of the cave, however, nobody could see the ground, because it was covered by water, a lot of water.

"That explains a lot …" Brock said, crossing his arms.

"The Pokedex entry said that Sandshrews always build a cave far away from water, so I'm surprised to see that their cave is an underground sea." AJ said naively.

David facepalmed.

"You're surprised to see that, huh? What's about the possibility that the Sandshrews and Sandslashs left the cave, because it was filled with water some time ago?" David explained slowly, yet annoyed.

Suddenly, something dropped onto April's neck and the brunette immediately tried to hide behind her teammate.

However, David spotted a shock facial expression and the boy voluntarily took a bath inside the sea.

April almost fell down, but she could regain her balance quickly again. Nevertheless, she was confused why her teammate avoided every physical contact with her during this egg hunt.

Reappearing from the water, David spat some water out.

"Why did you freak out like that?" David asked sternly, swimming in the water.

"Something dropped onto my neck, but why did you jump into the water at all?" AJ asked, tilting her head. It didn't matter, because David didn't answer that question and he rather blamed AJ for the situation.

"Well, you're a weird couple …" Max said, sweatdropping.

"We aren't a couple!" David claimed harshly, almost exploding.

However, AJ blushed at that statement and funnily, Cubone started to laugh at his own trainer.

Nevertheless, David got his payback when he splashed some water onto his skull-wearing Pokemon and of course, now it was Farfetch'd's time to laugh at the ground type. Like always, a small brawl between the two Pokemon followed.

Meanwhile, Brock analyzed the surroundings.

"That looks more and more like a stalactite cave to me." Brock said sternly. "Apparently, a small drop of water hit AJ on her neck, but if you look closer, you can see that it happens within the wall cave."

Indeed, hundreds of water drops hit the surface of the small underground sea.

Flareon, Cubone, Bonsly and the Sandshrews didn't like water at all.

"The poor Sandshrews fled from the flood, right?" Max said.

"As their former main cave, I guess, that it wasn't almost like that, but I can't say why this water fills the cave now. Perhaps there's a river above this location or some sort of sea that seeps through the ground and into this cave." Brock explained thoughtfully.

"What can we do to help them?" Max asked.

At least, David had crawled out of the sea and the trainer took his shirt off to wring the water out of it.

"That's a good question, Max." Brock responded. "Of course, I could ask Marshtomp to dig a hole, so that the water flows out of the cave, but seemingly, the water won't stop to drop from the top of the cave."

"Actually, I don't see a reason why the Digletts and the Sandshrews can't share their tunnels, you know. Together they could easily dig enough tunnels and caves, so that everyone has enough space, right?" AJ said naively.

"If you find a way to make the Sandshrews and Digletts stop arguing, you'll be right." David added, being suspicious about this idea. During that whole time, the Sandshrews and Sandslashs had been quiet, not saying anything.

"Well, to be honest, April's idea is quite good, because it's much easier to negotiate between them instead of changing the whole surroundings." Brock said.

Flareon, Bonsly and Cubone still avoided several drops of water that dropped down onto them.

"We'll need a lot of luck to get them on the same page …" David rubbed the back of his head.

Suddenly, the whole group heard a loud splash and the whole group turned to the underground sea to see what it was. As soon as they saw it, the group realized that the Sandshrews wouldn't have another possibility than to work together with the Digletts.

A torrent originated from the ceiling and unlike the drops of water, it filled the rest of the cave quickly with water.

"That's bad! With this speed, the cave will be flooded in no time!" Brock explained tensely.

The Sandshrews already shivered in fear in front of all the water.

"It's even worse, I guess." David added tensely. "This cave is connected with the whole tunnel system of the Digletts, which means that everything will be flooded eventually. After all, the problem of the Sandshrews is now the problem of the Digletts as well."

"That's terrible!" April told her thoughts.

"Brock, we should cut this cave from the rest of the tunnels." Max suggested.

"In this case, I think that's the only option for us." Brock responded.

However, another torrent shot down from the ceiling of the cave and into the sea. The water level started to rise quickly and it wouldn't leave much time until everything would be enveloped by the water.

Max turned to the Sandshrews.

"You need to cut this cave immediately from the rest of the tunnels!" Max exclaimed, looking seriously to the group of ground-types.

However, the splashing water and the fast rising water level frightened the Sandshrews enough and suddenly, all of them ran away from their old home. Apparently, they hated water more than anything else and that left Brock's group on its own.

"Great!" David said sarcastically. "Well, it's up to us again then!"

"We should hurry!" Brock said quickly before he released Marshtomp from its Pokeball again. "Marshtomp, we need to stop the flood, that's why you need to help us to cut this cave from the remaining tunnels, okay?"

Of course, the double-type understood quickly and he already started to throw several pieces of stones, earth and other things onto a pile. Now, everyone helped as well and nobody refused to get dirty hands during this work.

Meanwhile, the water level rose and rose and soon, it would reach the tunnel.

* * *

It was a difficult situation for Ash and the raven-haired trainer needed to decide what to do. As long as the egg container was with Team Rocket, it wouldn't be a good idea to attack them and even Butterfree's sleep powder wouldn't be quick enough to prevent Meowth to harm the egg.

"Okay, you win!" Ash said unexpectedly.

"Ash …" May wasn't used to the fact that Ash had to give up.

Team Rocket laughed devilishly, knowing that they would get their second egg container from the twerps, but unlike Ash and May, Team Rocket wouldn't stop with two eggs.

"May, roll the egg container to them." Ash said, biting on his lips.

Pikachu, Eevee and the butterflies were furious that they needed to agree on the stipulations of Team Rocket, but unfortunately, there wasn't another way.

Hesitating, May kneeled down before she wanted to roll the container to Team Rocket.

Out of nowhere, Meowth was tackled and the cat dropped the egg container to the ground. Suddenly, Nidoran appeared on the scene and the small rabbit shivered in fear, although it had been his own decision to interfere.

Pushing the egg container with its small head, Nidoran ran away.

"Just wait! Seviper, stop this stupid Easter bunny with your Poison tail!" Jesse shouted and the snake, that had recovered from the previous attack, dashed towards the pink Pokemon before she hit with her tail towards it.

Extremely young, Nidoran was everything, but ready for a fight let alone attacks.

However, the attack never hit and when Nidoran looked up, it saw that May covered him with her own body. Out of all onlookers, it was the brunette who took action, but now, she was hit by the Poison tail before she dropped with Nidoran to the ground.

"MAY!" Ash exclaimed, shocked. He couldn't explain it, but it hurt his heart a lot to watch May being attacked like that.

Immediately, Eevee tackled Seviper onto Cacnea and now, it was Pikachu's time to finish this.

Releasing a powerful thunderbolt, the rodent barbequed Seviper and Cacnea.

Ash already ran to May to check on his friend.

Team Rocket knew that it wasn't the best idea to continue the fight and Jesse and James already recalled their Pokemon. Mime Jr. wasn't the best fighter and Meowth had seen better days, which only left Wobbuffet, but he wasn't very reliable.

Standing in front of Pikachu, Eevee, Beautifly and Butterfree, Team Rocket thought about their next step.

"After I thought about it a second time, you cane have the two eggs! We don't need them anyway!" Jesse said before the whole Team of them dashed away, leaving the battlefield.

"We still have this map; we cane find enough other eggs anyway!" Meowth said to his teammates, while he was running quickly away.

However, Butterfree and Aipom quickly followed the trio.

"Wait!" Ash shouted, but his two Pokemon were already out of earshot.

Beautifly, Eevee and Pikachu stayed with the trainers and Ash turned May around, supporting her when he held her in his arms. Fortunately, May was still conscious, something that relieved Ash a lot.

"May, are you okay?" Ash asked carefully.

" … I'm fine, Ash … really …" May answered weakly.

The purple tints under May's eyes revealed that the girl was poisoned from the poison tail of Seviper.

Eevee, Beautifly and Pikachu looked sadly to their friend.

"Brock would have something to cure it!" Ash noted, crunching with his teeth. "Don't worry, May! I'll find a way to cure you from this poison!"

May smiled weakly to the trainer.

After Ash had put his hand on May's forehead, he knew that she had fever and that he would need to do something quick. Even if the poison wasn't deadly, it still hurt his friend and that was something that he couldn't let happen.

Nidoran sat next to them, being completely confused after what the girl did.

Quickly, Ash took off his sweatshirt before he folded it. After that, he put May's head onto it, so that she could rest on the ground as long as he would manage the situation.

"Beautifly, please fly back to the Crystal lake and fill this bottle with the cold water, okay?" Ash asked, holding an empty bottle in front of the butterfly and of course, Beautifly immediately flew away to fulfill this order.

"Eevee, you stay with May, no matter what happens, okay?" Ash said to the small fox.

Of course, Eevee wouldn't let her trainer alone.

Now, Ash looked to May again and the brunette breathed steadily, although she sweated heavily due to the poison.

"Listen, May! Don't move at all, otherwise the poison will move faster through your body! Beautifly brings you some cold water and Eevee will watch over you!" Ash said quickly with a comforting voice.

May nodded slowly.

"Pikachu and I'll try to find a Poison Curing Berry around here!" Ash revealed his plan. "Actually, they should be ripe and you'll feel better as soon as you ate one."

May smiled towards the raven-haired trainer.

Ash gave a quick nod before he and Pikachu dashed away to find one of those berries.

May tried to breathe steadily, but she knew that Ash would help her, like always.

_He's doing it again … _

**End of the chapter!**

* * *

**I hope that this was a good chapter, because slowly but surely, we approach the end of the story and I know exactly that it will have sixteen chapters in the end. **

**I'm sure that I'm the only one, but this story somehow makes me happy, because it's completely about friendship, teamwork and for some part, love. **

**See you later!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Already chapter 13 of the Easter-themed Advanceshipping story and I'm perhaps the biggest fan of this story anyway. Actually, I hope it'll be a story that you can read more than once, but in the end, it's just important that I'm satisfied with the whole story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Friends just help each other**

Eevee stayed with her trainer and the small fox licked consolatory the cheek of May, trying to keep her awake. At the moment, May shouldn't start to lose her conscious, at least not until she ate one of those Poison Curing Berries.

"Vee!" The small fox tried to talk with her trainer.

"Don't worry, Eevee …" May breathed still steadily. "It's not as bad as it looks like …"

Nidoran stayed next to May and the small and young rabbit felt that he needed to help somehow; however, he didn't know what he could do to help. Nevertheless, Nidoran rolled the second egg container next to the first one to keep them together.

Unfortunately, it was still very warm and that didn't do May's fever any favors.

The brown-haired coordinator wasn't too concerned though, because she knew that Ash did everything in his power to help her.

_He's doing it again … he helps me without hesitation and he didn't even blame me for the situation, although it was my fault that I jumped in front of the attack … Eevee could have attacked instead … Ash never disappointed me … _

"We're lucky to have Ash around, Eevee …" May said with a smile. "He's a hero … He's my hero …"

Now, May started to cough and a lot of sweat dropped down from her forehead, however, May didn't complaint about her bad condition.

The brown fox started to remove some sweat from May's forehead before she started to wag with her tail to cool her trainer down a bit. It wasn't much, but Eevee could just hope that Ash and Pikachu would come back soon enough.

"Nido!" Nidoran tilted its head.

"Don't worry, Nidoran *cough* …" May said before she slowly put a comforting hand on Nidoran's head. "We promised you to find your friend and that's exactly what we will do!"

The small rabbit seemed to lose its fear of humans.

Fortunately, Beautifly came back and the butterfly held the bottle with cold water within her small arms. Like Ash said, the water was ice cold and it should help to control May's fever as long as Ash and Pikachu weren't back.

At first, Eevee removed Ash's hat from May's head.

Then, Beautifly dropped some water onto Eevee's tail to soak it with the cold liquid. Of course, Eevee shivered, but she immediately put her tail across May's forehead to decrease the temperature and indeed, it helped the brunette to survive the next minutes.

"Thank you, you two …" May said with a smile. "I didn't know what I would do without you …"

Beautifly and Eevee did everything what they could and it was now up to Ash and Pikachu to cure May from the poison that still bothered her. With Beautifly creating more cold wind, May would wait as long as it would take for Ash to come back.

* * *

Dashing through the woods, Ash looked to the top of the trees in an attempt to find a tree with poison curing berries, but as of now, he hadn't been very lucky. Just like him, Pikachu tried to sense some of them, but unfortunately, the whole forest was full with different scents.

"Come on, Ash! Kurt told you so much about berries that I should be able to know how they look like!" Ash talked to himself, trying to remember what he learned in Jotho and Hoenn.

Pikachu still looked around.

"What was its name? … - - - Poison Curing berry … Pecha berry! Exactly!" Ash knew the name, but now, he needed to remember how it looked like.

_May's suffering and I waste time … I couldn't forgive myself if something bad happens to her … it's my duty to watch over her, especially during an event that I suggested in the first place … I mustn't disappoint her … how does a Pecha berry look like? … _

Eventually, Ash reached a spot with many trees that carried berries. Fortunately, Ash was right and all berries were ripe during this time.

"Which one? Which one? Which one?" Ash looked around.

There were different kind of berries on the trees; for example: a cherry-like berry, a hazelnut-like berry, two different berries that looked likes strawberries, although one of them was blue and the other light-pink.

Pikachu tried to remember all the berries that he had eaten so far.

"I could take one of every tree with me, but is that a good idea? …" Ash said unsurely.

The sun slowly but surely started to disappear, but there was still enough light to tell the different berries from each other.

Once again, Pikachu smelled the different berries and suddenly, he remembered the scent of the berry that once cured him from poison. Looking to the tree with the light-pink strawberry-like berries, Pikachu was sure that it were the right ones.

"Pikapi!"

"What's up, Pikachu?" Ash asked, turning to the rodent.

The yellow rodent stood in front of a tree with the pink strawberries and the raven-haired trainer remembered that he had seen them before.

"Are that Pecha berries?" Ash asked and Pikachu nodded quickly. "I know that I can trust you, Pikachu, but you need to be 100% sure about this!"

The rodent looked for a short moment to the ground before he nodded again.

"Well, then we should hurry!" Ash explained quickly before he walked to the tree. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult to reach the berries and that saved him a lot of time.

_I can't wait to see that she feels better again … I've been away for too long already …_

After he took three berries, Ash motioned to Pikachu to follow him again. As long as Pikachu was right, the berries should cure May from her poison, however, there was something else on Ash's mind as well.

_Aipom … Butterfree … please, come back …_

* * *

Team Rocket still ran away from their followers, intending to look for other eggs without the interruption of Ash's group. With Seviper and Cacnea out of commission, Team Rocket's useable Pokemon were reduced to some other.

"Do they still follow us?" Jesse asked hectically.

When James looked over his shoulder, he saw that only Aipom followed them so far.

"It's just the monkey! Meowth, take care of her!" James said to the cat-member of their team.

Actually, Meowth believed that he had a realistic chance against the purple ape, that's why he turned around before he extended his claws to fight against Aipom. Jumping towards Aipom, Meowth scratched with his claws.

Suddenly, the cat was pushed to the back again when Butterfree tackled Meowth away.

Now, Team Rocket had two Pokemon on their heels.

"Why do they still follow us?" Jesse asked, running again. "We don't have captured any of their friends and we don't have the egg container anymore!"

"Who knows, but this Aipom looks as if it will torture us." James added.

Indeed, Aipom looked very angry and that because of different reasons; Team Rocket had attacked her, Team Rocket took her egg container away, Team Rocket had hurt May and Aipom wanted to assure that Jesse and Co. wouldn't destroy the game anymore.

"That's righ - - -"

Suddenly, the whole trio crashed down a slope, rolling several meters until they dropped hard onto the ground again.

Fortunately, Butterfree gave Aipom a lift, so that they could continue to follow Team Rocket.

"Did we get rid off them?" Jesse asked when she crawled out of the pile of Rocket members.

"Perhaps …" James added, laying flat on his belly and Mime Jr. laid next to him on its belly as well.

Unexpectedly, Butterfree, with Aipom on his back, appeared again behind them and this time, Aipom used some stars of her swift attack to hit Jesse on her head. Of course, the woman didn't like it at all that the monkey ruined her hair.

"Meowth, do something!" Jesse demanded.

"Why should always I sacrifice myself? Why don't we use Mime Jr. as a distraction?" Meowth suggested instead.

"NO!" James responded harshly and quickly. "Mime Jr. is too helpless!"

"Mime Mime Jr.!"

Apparently, Team Rocket didn't have another chance than to keep running. The chase lasted several minutes and Butterfree and Aipom didn't want to slow down until Team Rocket would leave this whole location voluntarily.

Aipom continued her attack.

Suddenly, Team Rocket was out of eyeshot and Butterfree and Aipom wondered where the trio was.

Looking around, Aipom looked for the weird trio, but for some reason, there wasn't a sign of them anymore. Nevertheless, Butterfree and Aipom stayed at this place for some time, knowing that Team Rocket wouldn't shut up until they were blasted off.

"Finally, they lost our track …" Jesse said, panting heavily and looking through some branches.

"The twerps don't know that we have the map of this fatso, so they shouldn't bother us anymore." Meowth added, sitting on another branch. "As soon as they are away, we'll continue our raid for the remaining eggs around here."

James nodded.

"Mime Mime Jr." The small Pokemon said, holding something within his small hands.

"What did you find, Mime Jr.?" James asked curiously before his Pokemon gave him something.

Jesse, James and Meowth looked onto that thing.

"It looks like a baobab fruit …" James said and indeed, it was such a fruit. After all, Team Rocket hid on the branches of a baobab tree.

Out of nowhere, several shadows appeared behind the backs of the trio, but James and his teammates didn't notice them at first.

Suddenly, the trio was kicked down from the branches and Jesse, Meowth and James, with Mime Jr., landed hard on the clearing in front of the tree. Of course, the noises caught the attention of Aipom and Butterfree. Immediately, the two Pokemon approached Team Rocket again.

"Will we never get rid off them?" Jesse said.

Once again, Tea Rocket tried to flee, but this time, they were suddenly surrounded by a lot of Pokemon that looked madly to them.

"MANKEY!"

More than a dozen Mankeys cut off the escape route of Team Rocket and it was easy to tell that the pig monkey Pokemon were mad at Jesse, James and their Pokemon for invading their tree. Moreover, one of the Mankeys looked like the leader.

Aipom recognized her rival-turned-friend and she immediately went to him.

"Aipom Pom Pom Aip Aipom!" The purple monkey greeted her friend.

Mankey seemed to be surprised to see Aipom again, but at least, it was a nice coincidence.

Of course, Team Rocket seemed to be confused and the trio thought that they should use this greeting to disappear again. Tiptoeing away, Jesse, James and Meowth moved silently away.

Unfortunately for the team, Aipom noticed that and she immediately cut the way off with another swift attack. Once again, the whole attention was on the trio and it became even worse when Aipom explained the situation to the Mankeys.

Telling them that Team Rocket had hurt a friend and that they tried to ruin the egg hunt, Aipom incited the Mankeys and apparently, Mankey became angry as well.

"What are they talking about, Meowth?" Jesse asked, concerned.

"Aipom said that we hurt her friend, May, and that we almost ruined the whole egg hunt. Moreover, she said that the Mankeys should help her to kick us out of this location … oh …" Meowth translated, but he knew that it wasn't anything good.

"Who do they think they are?" Jesse said sternly.

However, many Mankeys jumped back onto the baobab tree before they threw dozens of baobab fruits onto the heads of Team Rocket.

"Ouch … ouch … " The trio got what they deserved.

Now, Mankey used Focus Energy and Aipom prepared her Focus Punch.

Crawling out of a pile of baobabs, Team Rocket thought that it couldn't become any worse. However, Aipom, using Focus Punch, and Mankey, using Cross Chop, dashed towards them before they hit the trio with their attacks.

"AIPOM/MANKEY!"

Flying into the air, Team Rocket hoped that they wouldn't fly too far away from the egg hunt location.

On the other hand, Butterfree was here as well.

Flapping his wings, Butterfree used a whirlwind attack to assure that Team Rocket wouldn't land anytime soon on the ground. Moreover, the wind was so strong that it removed some stuff from Team Rocket's possession.

"No! … The map …" Meowth tried to hold onto the map, but the wind blew it away from his paws.

Jesse, James and Meowth had to look on when the map floated down to the ground.

"Another Easter where I don't win!" Jesse exclaimed, almost ticking off.

"I knew that we should have competed officially at this egg, because Mime Jr. and I had at least won something." James said calmly, nodding several times to agree with himself. Like always, Mime Jr. copied it.

"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

"Mime Jr.!"

WOBBUFFET!"

Soon, Team Rocket disappeared in the sky.

Celebrating with Mankey, Aipom was happy that she could get rid off this annoying team.

Suddenly, the map flew onto Aipom's face and the purple monkey was completely shocked at first that everything was black in her vision. When she removed the paper from her face, Aipom looked weirdly onto it.

Mankey tilted its head as well.

"Butterfree!"

However, Butterfree soon flew to Aipom to remind her that they should go back to Ash and May, because they needed help as well. Not thinking more about this map, Aipom put it into the hand at the end of her tail before she turned to Mankey.

It had been a very short see again, but Aipom needed to go back to Ash.

Waving to the Mankeys, Aipom thanked them for their help before she dashed away to find her trainer again.

However, something watched them from the bushes and that small individual seemed to be curious.

* * *

Ash hadn't returned yet and May still fought with her fever that didn't want to go away, even with the cold water or the cold wind. Beautifly and Eevee suffered with their trainer and they wished that they could do more.

"Vee!" Eevee said sadly.

May had started to breath heavily and more and more sweat dropped down from her forehead.

"PIKA!"

Eevee immediately turned around with sparkling eyes when she heard the voice of her Pokemon friend and indeed, Pikachu and Ash returned to them with some berries. Panting heavily, Ash ran out of air, but he didn't care much about this.

Almost dropping onto his knees due to exhaustion, Ash finally reached May.

" … I'm back …" Ash said quickly.

May opened her eyes to see the boy and she could even smile, despite the pain.

"I … knew … that you would make it …" May said weakly.

"Don't waste your energy, May!" Ash said before he started to divide up one of the berries.

Eevee, Beautifly, Pikachu and Nidoran looked on when Ash saved the situation again.

Helping May to a sitting position, Ash supported her with an arm behind her back before he took a small part of the Pecha berry.

"Here, May! It's a Pecha berry and it will cure you from the poison!" Ash said when he put the fruit in front of May's mouth.

Chewing, May didn't complain about the bad taste of it before she eventually swallowed it. To play it safe, Ash insisted that the brunette would eat at least three more parts of the fruit and the trainer was relieved that the coordinator didn't have difficulties to eat the Pecha berry.

After the fourth piece, May took a deep breath.

"I'm feeling much better … thanks to you …" May revealed with a heartwarming smile.

Everyone, including the Pokemon, sighed in relieve that May felt better again.

"I felt so bad that I didn't react fast enough to help you …" Ash said.

"You don't have to feel bad for it … however, I felt bad that you needed to care for me again, because of my reckless action …" May responded and she knew that this was a very special moment.

"What are you talking about? You weren't reckless and you saved Nidoran from that attack! You can be proud of yourself …" Ash responded, smiling as well.

At the moment, Ash held his hand against May's cheek.

Blushing, May knew that Ash felt something for her as well, but she was just too overwhelmed right now to express it to him. Several moments passed where the two teens just enjoyed the situation and that everyone was alright.

Ash noticed that his heartbeat was unusual fast, although he wasn't exhausted anymore.

Suddenly, Eevee jumped onto Ash's chest and the small fox just wanted to show her gratitude to the trainer that saved her trainer. Now, Beautifly flew onto Ash's head and the butterfly wanted to thank Ash as well.

Although it broke up the moment between them, May smiled towards the trainer and her Pokemon.

" Okay … thank you, you two …" Ash said, laughing slightly, because Eevee's soft fur tickled him on his neck. "You need to thank Pikachu as well, because it was him who helped to choose the right berry."

Like on a clue, Eevee tackled Pikachu to thank the rodent as well.

The sun almost completely disappeared behind the horizon and apparently, it was already past seven.

Once again, Ash looked to May.

_It makes me so happy that she smiles again … _

May looked to the raven-haired boy as well.

_I'm not surprised at all that I fell for him … _

Now, Ash noticed the small rabbit, Nidoran, and the raven-haired trainer hadn't forgotten the promise that he gave to the small Pokemon. As nice as it was, Ash and his group couldn't stay at this place any longer.

"Well, it seems that we need to find Aipom, Butterfree and Nidoran's friend now." Ash explained calmly. "At least, we have two egg containers now …"

Actually, nobody had looked at the second egg container so far.

When Ash looked at them, he noticed that his group now possessed an orange egg and a light-blue egg with different designs on them. However, the trainer didn't have too much time to think about the newest egg and he decided to put both of them into his backpack for now.

Eevee still cuddled with Pikachu.

May still sat on the ground when Ash put his sweatshirt back on.

_Ash … why can't I just tell you right now how I feel … _

"Pikachu, Eevee, Beautifly, we look for Aipom and Butterfree first before we help Nidoran." Ash said when he put his backpack on his back.

The three Pokemon agreed immediately.

Suddenly, Ash lifted May off the ground in bridal style and of course, the brunette was completely confused.

"Ash, what are you …" May wanted to ask.

"I wish I could give you more time to recover, but we need to hurry." Ash said, smiling. "However, perhaps I can combine both things, that's why I'll carry you."

May didn't know what to answer, although she blushed furiously.

Pikachu, Eevee and Beautifly followed their group, but once more, Ash turned around.

"Nidoran, we'll look for your friend now!" Ash explained enthusiastically and the pink rabbit looked curiously before he followed the group on their way.

* * *

With Brock & Max

* * *

The water sill rose quickly and Brock's group had a difficult time to cut the tunnel from the cave, that's why it became a competition against time. With Marshtomp working the most, the remaining individuals had to look how they could help.

After some time, Brock had to recall Bonsly, because the bonsai didn't like water at all.

"The water is almost on the level of the tunnel!" Max said desperately.

"At first, we should gather behind our wall!" Brock suggested and the whole group immediately walked into the tunnel before they continued with their try to save the tunnel system.

Flareon and Jolteon tried to throw earth onto the pile with their back paws.

Slowly but surely, the wall became a reality.

Suddenly, David noticed something yellow under the earth and the trainer immediately walked to it before he pulled it out of the sand. Surprisingly, it was Farfetch'd and the bird spat some earth out before he looked angrily to Cubone, who started to whistle innocently.

David facepalmed.

"It's almost finished!" AJ exclaimed.

More rocks and more sand was thrown onto the large pile that blocked the tunnel from the cave.

"Who of you two can throw more sand onto the pile?" David asked Farfetch'd and Cubone.

Looking at each other, both Pokemon immediately tried to outdo each other. At least, their rivalry was useful right now and shortly thereafter, the whole tunnel was cut off the old cave of the Sandslashs.

"We did it!" Max squealed in happiness.

Wiping some sweat away from his forehead, Brock thought that Max was right.

Cubone and Farfetch'd argued about the fact who did more, but suddenly Cubone heard a quiet noise from their wall. Walking to the rocks and sand, Cubone knocked with his bone onto the wall before a small beam of water shot into his face.

Farfetch'd's laughter caught the attention of the whole group.

"No! The water comes through our wall!" Max said with a concerned voice.

"The water just leaks through the sand and the gaps between the stones." Brock explained, but he didn't know what to do against this. Fortunately, David put a middle-large stone in front of the water beam to stop it.

However, another beam of water already shot out of the wall and hit Farfetch'd's face.

"What are we doing now?" AJ said, looking around.

"Quick! Everyone away from our wall! I have an idea!" Brock revealed, sending everyone away from the rock/sand wall of them. "Marshtomp, use mud shot to seal up the parts of the wall!"

Immediately, the double type shot the balls of mud onto the wall and apparently, the mud was better than the sand. After Marshtomp had sealed the whole wall, he waited for further orders, but Brock just waited.

Unfortunately, the water went through the mud as well.

"The water pressure is just too high for our thin wall!" David said.

More and more beams of water shot through the wall and unfortunately, it seemed that the wall would break any second. Of course, Marshtomp tried to seal up all of the beams, but even he wasn't quick enough to manage all of them.

Brock sweated, because he knew that they wouldn't manage it.

"It's senseless! We need to try to get out of the tunnels!" Brock said when he turned around.

However, when everyone turned around, they saw a large group of Sandshrews, Sandshlashs, Digletts and even Dugtrios.

The group was puzzled why the Sandshrews and Digletts were together.

Without wasting too much time, the Digletts started to use Mud-Slap on the wall and thanks to their numbers, they were able build quickly a very thick wall of mud. The Sandshrews used Sand-Attack to help and together, they reached the point where no water went through the wall anymore.

"The Sandshrews and Digletts work together!" Max shouted happily.

AJ was extremely happy about it, because she suggested it in the first place that both Pokemon groups should work together.

Unfortunately, even now, some water went through the wall of mud.

"It's still not enough!" Brock said, crunching with his teeth.

Once again, the Digletts and Sandshrews attacked the wall and this time, Marshtomp helped as well.

After some moments, the wall had become even bigger, but nobody knew if it was going to keep the water away from the tunnel.

"Flareon, use Flamethrower!" David ordered unexpectedly.

Max, Brock and AJ were confused why their fourth member ordered an fire-attack, but Flareon already released the flamethrower before it connected with the mud. Flareon burned the wall for a couple of seconds before she stopped with her fire attack.

Sweatdropping, most individuals were confused until they saw the result.

"The mud dried completely and now, it's as hard as stone!" Max exclaimed, amazed.

Indeed, the whole wall consisted of stone-like material and even after some moments, there wasn't a single drop of water that went through the wall anymore. In the end, the Diglett tunnel system was saved by teamwork.

"That was a great idea, David!" AJ said, looking to her teammate, who was always modest.

"Well, you thought quickly, David and apparently, our wall is enough to keep the water away." Brock explained truthfully. "Nevertheless, everyone helped to save the tunnels and we should all be proud of it!"

Flareon, Jolteon, Marshtomp, Forretress, Farfetch'd, Cubone and even Munchlax accepted the compliment.

Max was already with the Sandshrews, Sandshlashs and Digletts.

"You came at the right time, but does that mean that you won't argue anymore?" Max asked unsurely.

The Sandshrews seemed to ask the Digletts for help for a new cave for them. Fortunately, the Digletts decided to help them, because it wasn't easy to lose your home cave to water like that. After all, it was just necessary to explain everything to gain new friends.

Everyone was relieved that the problem was solved.

"It's already past seven!"

Max turned around to see that David looked onto his watch and apparently, it was already very late.

"What?!" Max said uneasily. "Brock, we only have two hours to finish our hunt!"

"That's not much time, but we will try to make it in time!" Brock responded, scratching the back of his head. Actually, both teams needed one more egg to win them, but that was easier said than done, especially when you're within a tunnel system.

AJ stood in front of the Digletts with puppy dog eyes.

"Could you please lead us to the exit of your tunnels system?" AJ asked politely, yet sweetly.

Of course, the Digletts wouldn't deny their help for the people that helped them to save their tunnels and a few seconds later, Brock and David's groups were on their way out of the tunnels, although the time wasn't on their side.

* * *

The first stars were visible on the sky and slowly but surely, it became colder.

However, all of that didn't matter to May, because she was carried by the boy that she loved, the boy that showed her countless times today that he cared very much for her. Unfortunately, this boy didn't know about her feelings …

Eevee and Pikachu walked side by side, hoping to find the way back to the starting point.

Meanwhile, Beautifly hoped that she would find Butterfree soon again.

May had wrapped her arms around Ash's neck to support him, but she would love to know what the boy was thinking.

_Ash … what do you really feel for me? … would you be dense when I tell you that I'm in love with you? … would you even understand what I'm feeling for you? … _

Several questions tortured May.

Suddenly, the group heard noises from the bushes and of course, they hoped that it wouldn't be another problem for them.

Fortunately, it was Aipom and the monkey dashed towards her group, still holding a map within the hand of her tail. Following her, Butterfree caught up with his group as well and of course, he immediately reunited with Beautifly again.

"I already missed you!" Ash explained with a smile, looking to his two Pokemon.

The brown-haired girl smiled when she saw Beautifly and Butterfree together.

"You can put me onto the ground, Ash!" May said unexpectedly. "I know that you want to catch up with them and I feel fine."

Ash looked at her with a 'Are you sure?' expression.

May nodded and Ash put her gently onto the ground.

Immediately, the boy walked to his Pokemon to talk with them and at fist, he didn't even notice that Aipom had something with her. Thanking them for their help to chase Team Rocket away, Ash enjoyed the moment of this reunion.

Nidoran stayed some feet behind May, feeling slightly left out.

Suddenly, Pikachu looked to the sky.

Ash, May, Eevee and the other Pokemon did it as well.

A star shot across the sky and everybody knew what that meant.

"A shooting star …" May murmured under her breath.

Actually, everybody was allowed to wish for something, but they weren't allowed to say it aloud, so it was a secret who wished for something right now. Nevertheless, everybody was silent, so it was possible that everyone took this chance.

_Please … give me the strength to tell him my feelings right now … _

The shooting star disappeared as fast as it had appeared, but it had been long enough to make a wish.

Ash lowered his head again and when he looked to May, he noticed that the girl took a very deep breath.

"Ash, …" She started.

**End of the chapter!**

* * *

**This chapter became longer than I thought at first. Like always, the story is written like an Anime episode, that's why you shouldn't be surprised that Team Rocket's leaving wasn't revolutionizing. **

**Ash's team has an orange egg and an light-blue egg, so it's determined now. **

**See you later!**


	14. Chapter 14

**We approach the end of the story and I hope that you like it so far! If this is the first story that you read from me, you should read "Max's Birthday Wish", "Time can't heal every pain" or "Life in the shadows" as well, because my writing style doesn't change much. **

**Warning: **I'm not good at writing confession scenes!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 14: All the words that I saved in my heart that I left unspoken**

May knew that there wasn't a way back anymore, although she didn't say anything so far. However, if she didn't tell him now, she would regret it with lovesickness and self-blame for sure.

With the sun being disappeared behind the horizon, May wouldn't move an inch until she would confess.

"There's something very important that I want to get off my chest …" May explained calmly before taking another deep breath. "I'm sure that I'll explode if I don't say it now, although I'm afraid of your eventual answer."

"You don't need to be afraid of - - -" Ash wanted to say.

"Ash, please don't interrupt me!" May said sternly, although she didn't intend to sound mean. "I want to say everything that I haven't been able to tell you since I started to feel the way I feel and it's better if you don't stop me before that."

Ash was slightly intimidated by her, but he wouldn't deny her request.

Pikachu, Eevee and the other Pokemon were completely silent now and apparently, they sensed that the brunette would say something that would change their lives. Sitting down at the edge of the clearing, the Pokemon didn't want to disturb May now.

Eventually, it was completely silent.

May saw the look of uncertainty on Ash's face, who was completely caught off guard right now.

_Please, shooting star .. Fulfill my wish … _

" …" May continued after some moments of silence. "You told me that you wondered why I have been so distant, lost in my thoughts, depressed and strange since the Grand Festival, right? To be honest, it didn't even start at the Festival, but even earlier than that."

Ash listened, but he was very concentrated.

" … You have been on my mind, Ash … it was you the whole time …" May revealed.

The raven-haired trainer had a look of guilt on his face, because he feared that he hurt May somehow.

"I can't exactly say when I started to fell different about you …" May continued, looking slightly unsurely as well. "I guess, it just happened subconscious and due all our adventures that we have been through."

Now, it became confusing for Ash.

"During my first day as a Pokemon trainer, I met you and I can't even imagine what would have happened if we didn't meet during this day, Ash. To be honest, I pleaded you to accompany me on my journey, because I didn't want to learn all the trainer's stuff on my own and you have been a very likable person since then."

Ash looked concentrated to May, reliving this moment as well.

"Do you remember Oscar and Andi? They told us that we were more than friends …" May explained and for the first time since she had started this confession, May blushed. "Back then, we were very naïve, weren't we?"

Looking through his thoughts, Ash remembered that scene as well.

"I started to feel better and stronger around you." May continued, seemingly having the strength to continue. "I didn't think much about it in Hoenn, but every time I saw you, my heart made a jump."

"Well, after our journey in Hoenn, we had to split up for some time." May talked more and more. "When you were away, I yearned for your presence and as soon as I got the possibility to visit you, I took it."

Butterfree listened extremely carefully, because he didn't know all of that.

For some reason, Ah started to feel flattered and his heartbeat increased slightly.

"It was great to see your home and your friends." The brunette smiled at this thought. "When you told me about the battle frontier, I became excited and I immediately agreed to come with you, although I didn't know at this time that Kanto had contests as well. To be honest, at that time, it didn't even matter to me …"

Apparently, May listed all the experiences that brought her closer to Ash.

It was half past seven, but May didn't care about the time right now.

"The bond between us became even stronger during our current journey, Ash. There are too many events, where I started to feel more and more for you, to list all of them, but nothing was as important as our meeting with Manaphy." May looked slightly to the ground.

Actually, Ash wanted to say something, but he decided not to.

"Manaphy showed me how it is to be a mother and I'll love him for that forever. It could be that you think that I didn't notice it that you protected me all the time while I was caring for Manaphy, but I did." May said with a smile. "You were always around me and I'm sure that Manaphy noticed this as well."

Ash hadn't thought much about this, because he did it naturally.

"More importantly, you saved the whole sea temple and me during the flood and I had never been more afraid of your well-being than during this moment. It was during this time that I started to see you as more than a friend, although I didn't claim it."

Now, Ash started to blush even more and slowly but surely, he understood May's monologue.

_I'm sure that Manaphy knew about my feelings, that's why he felt happy around Ash as well … _

"After The Grand Festival, I had to think about my future and …" May knew that her confession was slowly coming to an end. " … what will happen to us when you are finished with your Battle Frontier challenge."

It was weirdly quiet again.

"It became a torture to think about it and it was even difficult to see you that close to me, although you were so far away emotionally at the same time. " May continued.

Of course, May's heartbeat increased dramatically.

"Then, you suggested that we should participate at this egg hunt." May said. "It was uncomfortable for me to be in the same team as you, because of my feelings … Although it was only some hours, we experienced so many things together …"

Ash had a facial expression that nobody could read.

"You know yourself that we had a lot of luck during some events, but thanks to you, I held on." May said, although her lips started to quiver. "When you saved me from drowning, I realized that I want more than friendship …"

Strangely enough, Ash didn't look too shocked.

"Do you remember that peck kiss?" May blushed again.

Ash touched his cheek and he remembered that he didn't think too much about it.

"I hoped that it would be enough to show you how much I like you, but …" May sighed, smiling. " … you are dense … it's not your fault, but sometimes it drives me crazy that you don't get hints …"

Ash moved his lips, without saying something.

"Moreover, you saved me once more after I was poisoned and I thought that I would tell you all the things that I tell you right now, but Eevee tackled you away …" May sighed once more.

The small fox looked guilty and she didn't even know what she ruined.

"Don't worry, Eevee!" May smiled towards the brown fox. "I'm not mad at you."

"I'm sorry - - -" Ash thought that he could answer.

"I'm not finished!" May said quickly, because there was still the most important fact. "Ash, I want to be with you, I want to be close to you, I want to be there for you, I want to experience new things with you, I want to go with you through good and bad times, I want to make you happy, I want to see you smile, I want to solve our problems together, I want to be in your arms when I feel sad and …" May needed to take a breath after she listed all those things.

Ash's heartbeat was very fast.

" … I want to be your girlfriend, Ash …" May finally said and she didn't even look to Ash anymore. " … I want that you feel the same for me …"

There was another silence again.

However, there were still three words that May had saved within her heart and she needed to say them if she wants to feel better.

" I love you!" May said clearly before some tears rolled down her cheeks.

It felt good to say those words to the person for whom they were intended. Unfortunately, May was now completely overwhelmed by her emotions and she put her right hand on her mouth to suppress her sobbing.

Again, it was silent.

Pikachu was completely confused, Eevee felt sad that her trainer cried, the butterflies seemed to understand and Aipom looked hopefully to her trainer.

Suddenly, Ash walked to May before he hugged her without saying a word.

May was caught off guard, but she couldn't interpret Ash's reaction at all.

Hugging her tightly, Ash's behavior was mysterious and the trainer just held May in his arms for the next few moments. However, May noticed that Ash's heartbeat was as fast as hers and now, it became even faster.

"Please, don't cry! …" Ash said eventually.

Unfortunately, Ash's voice caused May to cry even more.

"You said that your heart makes a jump whenever you see me, right? You said that you want to be with me, that you want to be close to me, that you want to make me happy, right? Your heartbeat is faster as well …" Ash noted. "You want to protect me, no matter what? Aren't that the feelings that you're talking about?"

May just nodded on Ash's shoulder, still sniffing while battling some tears.

"In that case, …" Ash took a deep breath. "I can return those feelings."

May's eyes were suddenly wide open and she couldn't believe what she heard right now.

"You can? …" May asked unsurely.

"Yes, I can!" Ash repeated before he hugged May even more.

Despite being confused, Pikachu was happy to see that the two trainer were there for each other and Eevee, not knowing much about love yet, tilted her small head. Feeling the same for each other, Butterfree and Beautifly were happy for their trainers.

Aipom jumped circles, because she had assumed the whole time that May was in love with Ash.

Enjoying this moment, May knew that it was all worth it.

Suddenly, May pushed Ash to the ground, still hugging him. It was just an overreaction to her happiness, but the brunette didn't know where to start with all her thoughts that went through her mind right now.

"When did you notice it? …" May asked curiously, although she still cried some tears.

"I don't know …" Ash answered unsurely. "Every time you were in danger, I felt a sharp pain in my chest, for example during our stint at the Crystal lake or when Seviper attacked you. Normally, I'm concerned whenever a friend is in danger, but this time, it was … different … I'm dense, right?"

"Don't blame yourself, Ash!" May said, resting her head on Ash's chest "I love you the way you're."

"Finally, I know what these feelings mean … I'm in love with you." Ash said with a calm voice. "Apparently, the shooting star fulfilled my wish …"

"Wait!" May said quickly. "You wished for something during the shooting star?"

"I did …" Ash answered. "I wished that I would finally understand the feelings that I have for you and after that, you told me that you feel the same."

"Well, I wished that I would have the courage to tell you my feelings …" May responded calmly.

"I've never thought that a shooting star can really fulfill wishes." Ash said.

Eventually, the two ended the hug and May knew that she was ten thousand times happier than before the hug. Nevertheless, it was some kind of new to look at her friend-turned-boyfriend now and the brunette didn't know.

Suddenly, May gave Ash a quick kiss on his lips, but the boy was seemingly confused.

"Why …" Ash said.

"It was a kiss, Ash …" May said, feeling unsure again. "Didn't you like it?"

"Well …" Ash hesitated. "I feel flattered and my heartbeat is faster again …"

"That means that you like it." May said, sighing in relieve that Ash was just too dense to realize his own feelings. "My heartbeat is faster as well and I feel happy."

"So do I! However, I don't know how much will change now. We're still friends, aren't we?" Ash responded.

"More than that, Ash! Don't worry!" May said with a smile. "I'll explain everything to you that you don't understand."

"Am I not the mentor?" Ash was confused.

"You're my mentor for Pokemon stuff, but I'm your mentor for romance." May replied sweetly.

"Well, you teach me and I teach you." Ash said.

"I'm so happy to be with you, Ash." May said, hugging the trainer again and resting her head on his chest.

"I can return that feeling." Ash chuckled, knowing that May felt equally like him.

Now, all Pokemon went to their trainers and Pikachu immediately climbed to his trainer's shoulder to check on him. Of course, Eevee went to May and the fox seemingly needed someone who explained everything to her, because Pikachu didn't know how to explain it.

Suddenly, another noise appeared from the bushes.

Aipom heard it first and she just hoped that it wasn't Team Rocket again. Immediately, the monkey jumped into the bush before she pulled another individual out of it.

"Nidoran!" The female Nidoran exclaimed.

Everybody turned to her, but it was the male Nidoran that immediately dashed to his female version.

Both Nidorans were happy to see each other, making it obvious that the male Nidoran was looking for the female Nidoran all the time. Cuddling with each other, it was obvious that they liked each other a lot.

"Is that your friend?" May asked, still standing close to Ash.

"Could it be …" Ash said thoughtfully. "Could it be that Nidoran wished for something during that shooting star as well?"

Apparently, it would stay a secret.

Nevertheless, Ash's group was happy that everything turned to the better. May kneeled down before she patted the male Nidoran on his head, but the female version fearfully hid behind some stone.

Fortunately, the male Nidoran clarified that May and Ash were friends.

May looked once again to Ash.

_I did it! … Just like Beautifly, I was able to find my love … It's still quite new for me, but it feels so good to have it off my chest … Nevertheless, I shouldn't expect that Ash treats me different now and it'll take time until we can …_

May didn't finish this thought.

"What a Easter!" Ash said casually, letting out a huge sigh. "This egg hunt really changed our lives …"

Suddenly, there was another silence and everybody looked at each other.

"How late is it?" May asked hectically.

"It's 7:45 PM…"Ash responded after he looked onto a watch. "I wouldn't say that we wasted our time, but we only have seventy-five minutes until the end of the egg hunt and it's quite a way to the starting point!"

Aipom became restless and she jumped up and down.

"We have the two eggs, Ash and we can't disappoint Aipom!" May said quickly, knowing that Aipom helped the whole group several times.

"You're right, but we would need to run the whole way …" Ash said before he looked to May. "You're still weakened due to the poison aftereffects and I can't let - - -"

"I'm fine, Ash!" May responded loudly. "Let us go!"

"Fine! We're glad that you find each other again, Nidorans, but we're in a hurry!" Ash said quickly. "Please, try to stay together and we won't forget you!"

"Thank you for your help against Team Rocket!" May thanked the male Nidoran for the moment when he pushed the egg container out of Meowth's paws.

"Come on, guys! Let's hurry!" Ash said before he dashed through the woods.

Fortunately, the raven-haired boy was carrying the egg containers, so May wasn't too much loaded.

Of course, Pikachu and Eevee said goodbye as well before they followed their trainers. Just like them, the butterflies and Aipom started their way as well.

The two Nidorans looked on when Ash's group disappeared behind several trees.

* * *

With Brock & Max - 30 minutes earlier

* * *

Leaded by several Pokemon, Brock's group eventually found the exit of the tunnel system and the first thing they noticed was that it was already quite dark. Apparently, their adventure with the ground-types took more time than intended.

Being at the edge of the wasteland, the trainer had to regroup.

"It's already dark!" Max said with a disappointed voice, knowing that their chances to find another egg were very slim.

"At least, we have still almost two hours." Brock responded with a comforting voice.

A slight breeze blew across the wasteland and AJ, who only wear some sort of cheerleader outfit, started to shiver. Normally, it would be a good chance to get closer to her teammate, but David didn't even think about it.

"I'm cold …" AJ said, looking to her teammate.

"I always told you that you shouldn't wear these short clothes, but you didn't want to listen to me." David responded, but he noticed April's puppy dog eyes. "Well, let's see what we can do about this …"

Walking to the girl, David pretended that he would hug her, but in the end, he just took the egg container away from April before he put it onto the ground.

Suddenly, David took Flareon off the ground before he put her into AJ's arms.

"Flareon's fur and high body temperature should keep you warm and fortunately, she likes to cuddle with individuals anyway." David said, being satisfied with his solution.

Of course, that wasn't April's favorite solution.

Jolteon, Munchlax, Forretress, Marshtomp, Farfetch'd, Cubone and Bonsly waited eagerly for their trainers to continue the egg hunt, despite their slim chance to finish it.

"Where should we look next?" Max asked, looking around.

"Well, I would say …" Brock wanted to answer.

However, Brock was interrupted by several noises and when the group turned around, they saw a small group of Sandshrews and the ground-types stood eagerly in front of the trainers.

Max tilted his head at them.

"Do you need help again?" Max asked unsurely.

One Sandshrew turned around before he took something from behind the group. After another turn, Sandshrew held an egg container within his paws and the ground-type motioned to Max to take it from him.

"Is that for us?" Max asked unsurely again.

Max already carried an egg container, that's why it was Brock, who accepted the second egg container of their group. Being happy, the Sandshrews celebrated that they could help.

"Where did you find it?" Brock asked, looking at it.

Explaining, the Sandshrews motioned with their hands, but unfortunately, Brock couldn't interpret it.

Actually, Cubone thought that it was his time again to 'draw', but Farfetch'd stylishly tripped his team partner up before another small brawl started.

"Never mind!" Brock said, looking at the red egg within the container. "Was it the only egg that you found?"

The Sandshrews nodded.

"We're grateful for that, but David and AJ helped as well to save the tunnels." Max looked to the other two trainers. "Isn't it unfair that we get the reward and guaranteed win?"

Max was right that they couldn't share the reward from the Sandshrews.

"That's not bad!" AJ said enthusiastically, smiling.

Everybody looked to the girl that didn't have a problem to look for another egg container while Brock's group could return to the starting point now.

"Are you sure? We don't want that you lose this egg hunt because of us." Max said.

"Brock already said that we still have almost two hours and after David found our first egg on his own, I'm determined that we look for the second one together, right?" AJ said, looking sweetly to her teammate, who had a shocked facial expression.

Brock knew that something was weird about them.

Max once again turned to the Sandshrews.

"We're so grateful for that egg container and I hope that you and the Digletts can work together to dig new tunnels for all of you." Max said truthfully.

Eventually, everyone waved goodbye to the Sandshrews when they disappeared within the tunnels again. Actually, it felt good to help those Pokemon, although it distracted from the Easter egg hunt.

"We need to go as well!" AJ said unexpectedly. "It was nice to meet you and with some luck, we'll see each other in time at the starting point again."

"We wish you a lot of luck." Brock said.

Forretress, Marshtomp, Munchlax and Bonsly said goodbye to Farfetch'd, Cubone, Flareon and Jolteon.

"Come on, David!" April said playfully. "If you don't hurry, I'll pull you all the way through the woods!"

"See you later!" David said quickly to the others.

Of course, that was the last thing that the trainer needed right now and within a second, David was already several feet away, aiming for the woods. Farfetch'd and Cubone quickly followed him, although they still tried to outdo each other with their speed.

After AJ waved goodbye for now, she, with Flareon in her arms and Jolteon by her side, followed her teammate to the woods.

Brock and Max were once again alone.

"They are a weird couple …" Max said, sweatdropping.

"Right …" Brock sweatdropped as well. "Nevertheless, it was nice to meet them."

Another silence occurred.

"Perhaps we should walk back to the starting pint now." Brock suggested.

"I wonder if sis and Ash are already back from their hunt, hmm." Max wondered aloud, not knowing whether his sister and friend had more or less luck than them.

"I'm sure that they won't believe what we experienced within this day." Brock said, although he was curious how Ash and May's relationship had developed since this morning.

At least, the group possessed a grey Pokemon egg and a red Pokemon egg.

Munchlax sat on its rear end, not liking this wasteland at all that didn't even have trees with fruits.

"We're finished with this game, Munchlax and at the starting point, we can have a break and eat something." Max said enthusiastically.

Like always, as soon as Munchlax heard the words break and eat, it started to run.

"Munchlax, can't you at least wait for us?" Max shouted, but of course, the lax Pokemon kept on running. Fortunately, Munchlax knew the way back to the starting point and with its speed, it should reach it within twenty minutes.

Bonsly, Marshtomp and Forretress knew that Munchlax wasn't the MVP of their group.

Not wasting more time, Brock's group followed Munchlax.

Unfortunately, the group didn't notice a shooting start that shot across the sky at this time.

* * *

Still running quite fast through the woods, Ash's group tried to be at the starting point in time, but the darkness and May's weakened condition didn't make it easy. More than once, Ash looked over his shoulder to check on May.

The Pokemon had a better condition and all of them seemingly remembered the way back to the beginning.

However, the brown-haired girl started to be in pain, which caused Ash to stop the sprint.

Immediately, Ash stopped before he caught May during her sprint.

"You should say something when you can't keep on, May." Ash said with a concerned voice and at least, all Pokemon stopped as well.

" … it's okay! … I can continue!" May insisted.

"I'm not blind!" Ash responded sternly. "Even, if we only make a short break, I won't let you continue as long as you are in pain like that!"

Again, Ash had this gaze within his eyes that told a whole story and it was clear that May couldn't go against this will right now. Although Ash was the densest person on this planet, he knew what he had to do to protect the people that he loved.

"Okay, but only a very short break …" May agreed.

Quickly, May sat down on the ground, trying to get this awful pain away that went through her body right now, but a short break was exactly what she needed right now.

Of course, the Pokemon understood, although Aipom still looked very restless.

"Don't worry, Aipom! We'll make it in time - uh … what do you have in your tail ?" Ash finally realized that his monkey carried something with her.

Aipom had almost forgotten that she carried the map with her that she found during the blast off of Team Rocket, but it was perhaps time to show it to Ash. Handing the sheet of paper to her trainer, the monkey tilted her head.

When Ash looked onto it, he realized a similarity between it and the map that he saw during the announcement. Moreover, several places where marked with a pencil and slowly but surely, Ash realized it.

_Could it be? … _

"Aipom, where did you find this map?" Ash asked sternly.

The purple Pokemon tried as well as possible to explain it, but of course, it was obvious in the end.

"Team Rocket had it?" Ash understood. "Well, that explains a lot of things …"

"What's up, Ash?" May asked, being slightly left out on the ground. "What did Aipom find?"

"It's the map about this location with the locations of the egg containers as well. Apparently, they somehow took it away from Scott to get all of the eggs today." Ash explained quickly.

"So typical of them!" May said angrily.

"Fortunately, Butterfree and Aipom chased them away, but we need to return the map to Scott, so he can find the remaining eggs." Ash explained, thinking.

"Well, in that case we shouldn't waste any more time!" May said, determined, standing up again.

"You don't have to stop your break now!" Ash replied.

"I think there's something else that could fresh me more up than a break." May revealed.

"Do you mean water?" Ash asked unsurely, assuming that he still had some of the water from the Crystal Lake that Beautifly had brought them.

Seemingly, Ah was wrong, because May sighed playfully before she walked to Ash again. One moment later and the girl kissed Ash passionately on his lips and the raven-haired trainer was completely caught off guard, especially by the fact how much he liked it.

Eevee tilted her small head before she looked to Pikachu.

The yellow rodent didn't know how to explain it to the fox, however, Eevee suddenly copied her trainer and gave the yellow mouse a quick kiss. It wasn't as passionate as May's, but it caused Pikachu to be widely confused.

Not releasing Ash from that, May knew that her "boyfriend" would need a lot of time to understand everything.

Eventually, May broke away from Ash before she motioned to her Pokemon to continue the way back.

"Didn't you say that we need to hurry, Ash?" May asked sweetly.

Actually, Ash didn't know how a kiss could fresh someone more up than a break, but apparently, May was alright again. After he found his composure again, Ash followed his group through the forest again, although he was confused, puzzled and a lot of other things as well.

There wasn't much time left until the ending of the egg hunt.

**End of the chapter!**

* * *

**To be honest, every time an author writes about a confession scene with Ash, it seems very "out of character", because it's almost unbelievable that Ash will ever act like that. However, this here is fanfiction and our job is it, to write the scenes that the Anime isn't able to show us. **

**Ash will get the light-blue egg, May will get the orange egg, Brock will get the red Pokemon egg and Max will get the grey Pokemon egg. **

**To be honest, Farfetch'd and Cubone were my personal highlights of this story.**

**See you later!**


	15. Chapter 15

**There isn't much left to write about, but the revelation of the content of the eggs. Every time a story ends, I think about all the minor events that happened during the course of the story to know how much they influenced the end. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 15: What a day!**

It was quite late and the sun had already disappeared behind the horizon, making it difficult for the searching trainers to find something. Fortunately, the assembly point had several lights, small floodlights and other stuff that should help the participants to find this area again.

Scott talked with some trainers that had finished the egg hunt when he suddenly heard noises from the woods.

Out of nowhere, Munchlax dashed out from a bush before it crashed into the Hawaii-shirt wearing man.

Both individuals were corpulent, that's why it looked like a sumo wrestling match at first, but fortunately, nobody was pushed to the ground during this incident. Nevertheless, Scott was caught off guard before he saw how Brock, Max and several Pokemon left the woods as well.

"It's Scott!" Max exclaimed, panting slightly. "Does that mean that we reached the starting point again?"

"You're right!" Scott said, smiling. "This is the starting point and I'm glad to see that you're back in time and even with two egg containers as well."

"I hope that Munchlax didn't scare you with its appearance." Brock said, taking some deep breathes.

"It needs more than an unexpected attack from the woods to scare me." Scott replied, laughing slightly. "Moreover, did you have fun during the hunt?"

"Well, it was funny, although Munchlax's appetite almost drove me crazy at times … *sigh*" Max answered.

"Hmm … if your Pokemon are hungry, they can get some Pokemon food from Nurse Joy." Scott pointed to a small floodlight and under it, Joy handed food to several Pokemon. "All Pokemon are allowed to eat as much as they want, especially after their help - - -"

Munchlax already had dashed away to plead nurse Joy for its third plate of Pokemon food.

Brock looked to Bonsly, Marshtomp and Forretress.

"Come on, you three, I know that you're hungry as well." Brock said, giving them permission to catch up with the other Pokemon around nurse Joy, but the breeder suddenly, noticed something. "On the other hand … hmm … I could help nurse Joy with her task!"

With heart-shaped eyes, Brock flew towards nurse Joy.

Unfortunately, Max already dragged him on his ear back to Scott.

"Scott, are Ash and my sister already back?" Max asked curiously, looking around.

"To be honest, I'm surprised that they haven't come back yet." Scott replied, frowning.

Max looked disappointed. On the one hand, it meant that May wasn't as good as a searcher than him, but on the other hand, he hoped that nothing happened to his sibling and his friend on their hunt.

"How much time do they have until the end of the hunt?" Max asked.

Scott looked quickly onto his watch.

"They still have one hour to come back." Scott responded before he turned around to the trainers that he had talked to before Munchlax had appeared from the woods. "I'm sorry for the interruption, but I'll give you your passwords immediately."

Max looked to the two trainers and immediately, he recognized them as Sara and June.

"June, Sara, you're finished as well?" Max said.

The two girls turned to the boy and at first, they didn't recognized him, because the small boy stood slightly within a shadow. However, after some moments, the two teens were happy to see that Max's group was back as well.

"Isn't that Max?" Sara said with some disbelief. "It's great to see that you're back - - -"

"I know that I have been away from you for too long, but you don't need to worry anymore. My love for you will shine like your light for the night and - - -"

Brock was immediately pulled away from Sara by Max and the small boy shook his head.

Sara was like always puzzled, but June already answered for her.

"We were lucky when we found our second Pokemon egg, but at least, we weren't the only ones with luck, right?." June explained, holding an egg container within her arms just like Sara. "By the way, our Pokemon are with nurse Joy right now."

"Ours as well." Max responded.

After Scott had looked onto a list and to the eggs of Sara and June, he returned to them.

"I'll quickly remove the lock system from your containers, so that you can take the Pokemon eggs out of them when you need to clean them." Scott said.

After he used the passwords, Scott removed small objects that had locked the containers up, so that Sara and June were the official owners of two Pokemon eggs. Of course, the two girls were happy and squealed in happiness.

"Can you remove it as well for our containers?" Max asked unsurely.

"Of course! It was just important that you and your teammate have an egg each." Scott replied, smiling.

Looking at Max's egg, the corpulent man had to see what egg it was.

"It's the grey egg with some black points on it …" Scott said before he looked to Brock's egg. "You also found the red-brown egg, with orange waves and light-brown/red curls."

After that, Scott went to his lists again before he returned.

While Scott was removing the lock systems, Max asked.

"Do you know which kind of Pokemon are within the eggs?" Max asked.

"Maybe I know it, but maybe not." Scott replied, not giving a real answer. "You'll need to be patient and when the egg hatches, you'll be surprised and happy."

Max was sill curious about the content of his Pokemon egg.

"How's the situation, Scott?" Brock asked casually, although June winked towards him.

"Well, actually, we hid enough eggs, so that every participant had the chance to find one, but three teams had given up since noon. " Scott replied before he looked onto another list. "On the other side, there are only two teams missing …"

"I guess, you mean May and Ash, and David and AJ, right?" Brock assumed.

"Right!" Scott answered, although he was confused why Brock knew AJ and David.

Although Max won a Pokemon egg, he looked sadly around.

"What's up, Max?" Brock asked his teammate.

"I just wonder where Ash and my sis are … " Max said.

"I'm sure that they'll be back soon." Brock said with a comforting voice.

"Hopefully!" Max responded.

The remaining teams had less than one hour to return to the assembly point and to win their Pokemon eggs. Right now, June, Sara, Max and Brock talked about their adventures after they had splat up and how they got their second Pokemon egg.

* * *

Still dashing through the woods, Ash and May had to take several detours to avoid some steep slopes on their way back to the starting point.

"May, you'll end up running into a tree when you continue to sprint like that!" Ash said loudly.

"Come on, Ash, I know what I'm doing!" May replied, sounding extremely happy.

Eevee, Pikachu and Aipom leaded their group more or less due to their good sense of orientation.

Suddenly, May tripped over something.

Fortunately, Ash could grab her wrist, but May pulled him down to the ground before the two teens rolled down a not-to-steep slope. During that incident, May lost Ash's hat, but happily, Beautifly caught it in mid-air.

"Pikapi / Vee / Aipom!"

The three Pokemon immediately dashed down the slope.

When they went through a series of bushes, they entered a gigantic clearing.

Not far away, the two trainers laid on the grass.

May laid on top of Ash and although she spotted two small bruises, she couldn't stop to giggle happily.

"What's so funny?" Ash asked clueless.

"Nothing … hi-hi …" May replied, smiling brightly. "I'm just unimaginable happy; that's all."

"It's great to see you that happy, you know?" Ash asked rhetorically, but for some reason, he wringed slightly in pain and his brown-haired girlfriend immediately switched into concern-mode when she saw her love like that.

"Ash, what's with you?" May asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, but …" Ash replied. "It's just that two egg containers, within my backpack, are piercing into my back right now …"

Only now, May realized that she sat on Ash and that she pressed him hard onto the ground and onto the two egg containers. Immediately, she stood up before she helped Ash to his feet again.

Beautifly dropped Ash's hat onto May's head again.

"Oh, thanks, Beautifly." May said, being slightly surprised.

Pikachu, Eevee and Aipom checked on their trainers and fortunately, their small accident didn't cause anything, therefore they looked around to see where they were right now.

The moonlight lightened up the surroundings and some of the light dropped onto a lake.

"Could it be that we are at the clearing where we found our first Pokemon egg?" May asked unsurely.

After he sniffed quickly, Pikachu confirmed May's assumption with a quick 'Pika'.

"It feels like an eternity that we had been here, right" Ash asked no one in particular. "Who could have expected that we would experience so much after the first part of our hunt."

May thought about it as well, but actually, they didn't have any time to indulge themselves in experiences of the day and Aipom made clear that they shouldn't sojourn at this place for too long.

"We'll have time to think more about it when we are at the camp again!" Ash clarified.

Everyone agreed and the whole group dashed quickly across the enormous clearing before they entered the forest on the other side. Meanwhile, it had become so dark that even the remaining moonlight couldn't shine through the branches of the trees.

* * *

By now, many trainers had left the starting point on their way to a not-too-distant Pokemon centre or other camp spots, where they would spend the night.

"Where are they?" Max asked for the umpteenth time.

"Don't worry too much, Max! I'm sure they're fine and you can't forget that they have their Pokemon with them." Brock said with a comforting voice, but deep inside, he started to worry as well.

Apparently, Munchlax wouldn't get more food and Max had decided to recall the lax Pokemon again.

Even June and Sara said goodbye to Brock and Max, much to the dismay of Brock of course.

"How much time's left?" Brock asked casually Scott.

"Hmm …" Scott looked unsurely onto his watch. "Well, they still have fifteen minutes."

Suddenly, Max heard some noises from the bushes and he looked hopefully to the woods.

Unfortunately for the boy, it was just AJ, who left the woods, and not his sister, May. However, April looked rather worried and she panted slightly before she was happy to see the others.

" … I need help, please!" AJ said desperately. "My teammate, David, broke down and I don't know what to do!"

That were bad news and Scott, Max, Brock, nurse Joy and even officer Jenny followed AJ before they reached the spot where April's teammate laid motionless on the ground. However, Farfetch'd slapped his trainer with his leek to wake him up, without much success.

"What happened?" Nurse Joy asked, already starting to check on the boy.

"We were just on our way back to the start and when I saw the lights of the assembly points, I gave David a hug, but he suddenly collapsed and …" April explained quickly, but she still worried heavily.

Brock raised an eyebrow, because it wasn't the first time that April's teammate blacked out.

Scott was present as well and the organizer of the egg hunt didn't want that the event ended with a tragedy.

After a few seconds, nurse Joy could give the all-clear.

"There's no need to worry; he's just unconscious, although I can't see a reason why he blacked out like that though." Joy explained, relieved.

AJ took a deep breath after the good news.

Now it was Cubone's time to slap his trainer and this time, David slowly but surely opened his eyes again. However, the first person within his vision was nurse Joy, who kneeled down next to him, and the brown-haired boy immediately crawled back to a tree.

"I'm so glad that you're okay." AJ said truthfully.

"Well, of course, I'm okay. I just needed to take a short nap; that's all!" David pretended, although he received a shock for his life.

Max walked to AJ before he asked. "April, did you see another group on your way back? Perhaps, a brown-haired girl and a black-haired boy?"

"Not that I know of …" April tipped with her forefinger on her chin.

_Where are you? … _Max wondered silently.

After this more or less confusing incident, Scott could reprise his role as organizer and it was important to ask the team of AJ and David if they could finish the hunt successfully.

"I'm glad that nothing bad happened, but I need to ask you nevertheless; did you find two egg containers?" Scott asked, looking onto his watch again.

"Uh …" April needed some time to switch between the situations. "… Yes, we did!"

"That's fantastic!" Scott said enthusiastically. "If you want, we can go back to the assembly point and remove the lock systems from your containers."

"Really? We made it in time?" AJ said happily, with sparkling eyes.

Scott nodded before the group walked back to the assembly point. On their way, David kept a significant distant to nurse Joy, but he sighed in relieve that nobody learned from his 'weakness'.

Max looked sadly to the ground.

"_HELLO! Is someone here? Max? Brock? Scott? Where is everyone? HELLO? We are back! Why does nobody answer?"_

"_PIKA!"_

Max, Brock and Scott immediately recognized those voices and the glasses-wearing boy smiled brightly before he dashed enthusiastically back to the assembly point.

Ash, May and their Pokemon stood in the middle of the well lighted clearing.

"Why is nobody here?" Ash asked, confused.

"Maybe they started to worry about our whereabouts and started to search for us …" May suggested, panting slightly after they had run the last twenty minutes without stopping.

"Do you think so? According to my watch, we still have five minutes until nine." Ash replied unsurely and he shouted once more for the others.

Pikachu, Eevee and Aipom couldn't spot anyone here as well.

Suddenly, they heard noises from the bushes.

Unexpectedly, Max left the woods before he ran to his sister.

"Max!" May said, surprised. "Did you just come back?"

"No …" Max answered, but at first, he had to take some breaths of fresh air. "Brock and I were finished an hour ago and we just waited for you; where have you been for so long?"

"Well, we were …" May wanted to answer, but was interrupted by the others.

Scott, Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, Brock, David and AJ left the woos as well.

"Brock, were have you been? We started to worry that nobody was at assembly point." Ash said.

"Not so important …" Brock replied, slowing down again. "At least, you're back in time."

Scott smiled satisfied that his Battle Frontier challenger was back, but at first, he leaded David and AJ to his table, where he would remove the lock systems from their egg containers. Jenny and Joy were relieved that every participant had come back, making this a day without any accidents.

"Are we the last?" Ash asked, looking around.

"To be honest, yes, but how do we say? Last but not least, right?" Brock responded enthusiastically, but suddenly, something landed on his head and the researcher started to yell.

"Calm down, Brock, it's just an old friend that's happy to see you again!" Ash said, calming Brock down.

When the breeder stopped with his hectic movements, an upside-down-face looked down from his head and into his face before it exclaimed.

"Butterfree!"

Max looked curiously to the bug-type.

"How could you catch a Butterfree? I thought that you didn't take any additional Pokeballs with you." Max asked, slightly puzzled.

"Ash, is that your Butterfree?" Brock asked carefully.

"You guessed right, Brock." Ash responded with a smile. "That's my friend, Butterfree, the very first Pokemon that I ever caught on my journey."

"It's great to see you again, Butterfree!" Brock said, being pleasantly surprised before he wondered. "Uh … aren't you supposed to follow your swarm together with your mate?"

Ash knew that he had to explain some things.

"Well, during our search, May and I found Butterfree within the forest and he was very upset, because his mate had fallen in love with another Butterfree." Ash explained quickly.

"That's sad …" Brock noticed sadly.

"You don't have to be, Brock, because this story has a Happy End." Ash said with a wide smile.

As soon as Ash said this, Butterfree left Brock's head before he reunited with Beautifly to cuddle with her on top of a branch. Of course, Brock didn't need too long to understand what was going on, but he was nevertheless surprised.

"Did you catch him again?" Max asked.

"Technically, he's a wild Butterfree at the moment, but he already decided to join my team again." Ash answered when he looked to the two butterflies.

Meanwhile, Scott had removed the lock systems from the egg containers of David and AJ before he turned his attention to the last group.

"I'm glad that you're back in time, but tell me, did you find two egg containers?" Scott asked.

"Uh … of course, I'll quickly take them out of my backpack." Ash said after he almost forgot that they still needed to end this egg hunt officially.

"Look, sis!" Max said proudly when he showed his grey Pokemon egg to his sister. "I found an egg and even earlier than you."

"Hmm …" May looked sternly to her brother before she smiled. "In that case, I'm happy for you."

Max was slightly confused that his sister didn't tell him that he was too young for an own Pokemon, but for some reason, May seemed to be happier in general after this egg hunt.

When Ash showed Scott the two egg containers, Aipom jumped onto one of them, not being able to wait any longer until she could look at the eggs from the nearness.

"Even after that long hunt, your Aipom is still full of energy." Scott noted before he adjusted his sunglasses again. "Let's see! You two found the light-blue egg with black lines and the light-orange egg with a flame-like design …"

Max curiously compared the different eggs with his one.

Now, Scott went back to his table to look through his sheet of papers for the passwords.

When Ash looked at the sheet of papers, he suddenly realized that he had to return something to Scott.

Pulling the map out of his pocket, Ash unfolded the map.

In the distance, Officer Jenny looked suspiciously to the sheet of paper of Ash.

"What's that?" Brock asked, pointing to the map.

"Well, that's the map with the locations of the eggs that we got back from Team - - -" Ash couldn't even finish his explanation when Jenny snatched the map away from him.

"I'll take this as a confession and evidence!" Jenny said sternly.

"What? Wait, it's not how it looks like!" Ash and May clarified quickly and Pikachu, Eevee and Aipom defended their trainers. On the other hand, Brock and Max were completely confused.

"Pika / Vee / Aipom!"

"You two are officially disqualified from the hunt and if your two friends have anything to do with it, they'll be out of it as well!" Jenny said strictly.

When Scott returned, he was confused what was wrong.

"What's up with that noise?" Scott asked.

"You don't have to be concerned anymore." Jenny insisted. "I just caught those two trainers how they tried to look for the hideouts of more eggs after they would have _won _their two eggs."

"That's not true! We wanted to return the map to Scott!" May explained hectically.

"What a surprise! We have an honest thief." Jenny said, not believing the criminals.

Scott was more than puzzled.

"Wait! Could I please look at this map?" Scott said politely and Officer Jenny gave him the map, but she made sure that neither Ash nor May could escape.

After he looked at this map, Scott realized that it was indeed a map of this location with the egg locations, but when he looked to his table, he saw that the 'map' still laid at its original spot. To assure himself, Scott walked to his table again before he compare the two maps.

Only now, Scott realized that his map on his table was a bad-drawn version of the original.

"Sis, where did you get this map?" Max asked, confused.

April and David had notice the situation as well and they were curious what was wrong.

"I can't explain how someone could remove the map from my table and switch it with this copy." Scott said, but he didn't believe that Ash and his friends had something to do with this.

"What should I do with those thieves?" Jenny asked.

"We aren't thieves?" May clarified once more.

"You have to believe us, Scott!" Ash said truthfully. "We don't know how, but Team Rocket had this map and fortunately, we could take it away from them again."

Brock and Max immediately believed him, unlike Officer Jenny.

"Stop with your excuses!" Jenny said sternly and she already wanted to put handcuffs on them.

"Let them go, Officer!" Scott said quickly. "Ash and his friends are nice trainers and I can't think of someone, who is more honest than they're."

"But, sir, they could have found the eggs with the help of the map." Jenny replied, trying to convince Scott that they shouldn't be too easy on those kids.

"No!" Ash said once more. "We found the map after we found our two eggs; that's the truth."

Once more, May, Pikachu, Eevee and Aipom confirmed Ash's statement.

"Do you think that's prove enough?" Jenny was still suspicious.

"I believe them and as the organizer of the event, I thank them that they brought this map back to us. It would be terrible if the map got lost or would be in the hands of a trio like Team Rocket." Scott explained truthfully.

Jenny wasn't convinced, but it was Scott's property, that's why she let Ash and May go.

"You really scared me with that, sis." Max said, sighing in relieve that nobody would be disqualified.

"Team Rocket, huh?" Brock said, crossing his arms. "Why am I not surprised that they appeared at such an event?"

"Thanks, Scott!" May and Ash said in union.

"I know that you two don't need to use such cheap tactics to win at such an event." Scott explained why he believed them. "It's still worrying that this team could steal a map right from my table."

"Fortunately, Team Rocket couldn't destroy this event." Ash said.

"Nevertheless, it's time to remove the lock systems from your egg containers." Scott said, smiling again after this short moment of trouble.

Finally, Ash and May were official owners of two Pokemon eggs.

"Congratulations, you two!" AJ said happily.

"Uh .. Thanks, but may I ask who you are?" May asked curiously.

"How impolite from my part …" AJ said. "I'm April and this is my teammate David and we met your friends, Brock and Max during the hunt."

"Actually, Max is my brother, but it's always nice to meet new people. By the way, I'm May and that's my boyfriend, Ash." May replied unknowingly that she revealed something big.

"Nice to meet you, too." April replied, smiling.

However, there was a weird silence from Max and Brock's side.

"Did you just say _your boyfriend, Ash_?" Brock asked, wanting to assure himself.

"Oops …" May realized what she revealed. "I completely forgot that you don't know it."

Ash smiled sheepishly as well and Pikachu, Eevee and Aipom grinned widely as well, because it had to be weird for Brock and Max to hear that May and Ash had become more than friends.

April looked weirdly around.

"May, do you want to tell me that you and Ash are a couple now?" Brock asked with some disbelieve.

"Exactly!" Ash answered for his girlfriend. "We realized that we feel the exact same way for each other and fortunately, May knows what our feelings mean, but it's still quite new for me though …"

"Wow …" Brock replied hesitantly with a sweatdrop and some disbelieve. "To be honest, I assumed that May has a crush on you, but I thought that you wouldn't even notice it even if she tells it you right in your face. I assume that there's a lot that you need to tell us, right?"

"I guess, Ash's just full of surprises …" May said dreamingly.

Max was weirdly quiet and actually, May had thought that her know-it-all brother would start to tease her somehow.

"What's wrong, Max? Don't you want to tease me?" May asked, smiling.

" … seemingly, you wouldn't be mad, even if I tease you, but be honest to me; are you and Ash a hugging and kissing couple now?" Max asked strangely.

In an attempt to annoy her brother a bit, May didn't answer, but instead, turned Ash around before she kissed him passionately on his lips and after one second, Ash returned it.

Brock felt slightly stupid, because Ash kissed a girl before him.

April even felt slightly jealous, but her teammate, David, didn't care at all for that kiss of the two teens.

Scott looked at this scene indifferent like always and it was difficult to tell what he was thinking.

After a few moments, May ended the kiss before she looked to Max with a grin.

"I'm sure that you don't like it very much that your sister is dating your friend, right?" May assumed.

" …" Max seemed to be disgusted before he answered. "Although I don't know what's so great about kissing and it seemed weird how you press your faces on each other, I'm quite happy that you're together now."

"I knew that … wait! What?" May was quite confused about her brother's answer.

"In the end, it means that Ash will be my brother-in-law, right?" Max saw the positive in this.

"What's a brother-in-law?" Ash asked clueless, turning to Brock.

"It seems that you aren't completely cured from your denseness, Ash." Brock said, with a weak smile.

Ash laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

May's face heated up, because her brother, her very own brother talked about a wedding between her and Ash. Actually, she had expected that Max would try to tease her the whole time with _May and Ash are sitting on a tree, _but his reaction was completely different_. _

Max the turned to Scott again.

"How long will it take until the eggs hatch?" Max asked curiously, not thinking too much about the relationship of his sister and Ash.

"To prevent hatches during the hunt, we only took eggs that are quite young." Scott revealed. "It could be everything between two weeks and two months to be honest."

May was still confused, but Ash put an arm around her to comfort her.

It was past nine and the egg hunt was officially over.

Beautifly and Butterfree still sat on a branch and looked down to their trainers, Max still tried to guess which kind of Pokemon will hatch from his egg, Brock looked to Nurse Joy again, Ash and May were happy together, Pikachu still acted unsurely around Eevee and Aipom jumped happily up and down after this eventful day.

"What a day!" Ash exclaimed loudly.

**End of the chapter!**

* * *

**This marked the end of the egg hunt, but there will still be a chapter 16, which will include a time skip to the point when the eggs will hatch. It's the end of the hunt, therefore it wasn't full of epic scenes, but it's a nice ending nevertheless. **

**This will never be an award winning story, but it was great to write it. **

**Don't forget to come back for chapter 16!**

**Please, leave a review to support the author!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Welcome to the last chapter of **_**The Easter Orienteering **_**and I think that's a reason to celebrate, because this here is the very first story that I ever finished on this website. Hopefully, you will remember this story during next year's Easter or the Easter after it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

**R&R!**

**The Easter Orienteering**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Advancing with new friends / Prologue **

Two curious eyes looked impatiently towards a grey oval-like object, but no matter how long the boy stared at it, the egg didn't do anything and that wouldn't change anytime soon.

"It has already been five weeks and it still didn't hatch." Max said sadly.

"Don't be too impatient, darling." Caroline, who cleaned up the room, said with a comforting voice. "Nurse Joy already told you that your Pokemon egg is completely fine and that you just need to wait."

"I know …" Max responded, sighing.

"I would like to vacuum the carpet now; could you leave the room until I'm finished?" Caroline asked.

"Well, okay, but don't push the egg off the table, mum." Max said sternly.

"I would never!" Caroline said playfully before Max left the living room of the house.

Walking through the corridor, Max decided to 'visit' the greenhouse of the house and soon, the boy opened the backdoor before he entered the nature part of their residence.

It still looked great and the sun shone through the glass of the greenhouse.

Beneath some plants, Skitty cooed sweetly, sleeping and the cat-like Pokemon was carefree.

"I wonder how sis and Ash are doing right now …" Max said to no one in particular.

Hearing the noises of the vacuum cleaner from inside the house, Max wondered how many days it would take until he would meet his new friend from inside the egg.

Suddenly, an individual landed on Max's head and the boy already knew who it was.

"What's up, Beautifly?" Max asked, looking up to see the face of the butterfly.

"Beautifly Fly!" The butterfly said.

Max understood what she asked. "I'm sorry, but the egg still didn't hatch … *sigh*"

Now, another bug-type appeared next to Max and Butterfree greeted Max as well on this beautiful day, but of course, he noticed that the boy was sad that the egg just didn't want to hatch already.

"I guess, you would love to know as well, which Pokemon is within my Pokemon egg, right?" Max asked rhetorically. "Scott said that it could take up to 8 weeks until the egg hatches, but I'm not sure if I'm able to wait another three weeks …"

Butterfree and Beautifly tried to cheer up the boy.

"Thanks for your support, you two." Max said before he wondered. "Perhaps I should look what dad is doing … hmm … See you later, you two."

Max waved quickly to the two butterflies before he left the greenhouse again.

Beautifly and Butterfree looked after the boy before they continued to spend this great day in the tropical greenhouse of the Maple residence.

Entering another part of the residence, Max looked for his father.

Norman wasn't within his study, but suddenly, Max heard noises from the gym and the small boy shook slightly his head, because he knew that his father was in a match right now.

As soon as Max entered the gym, he saw that his father battled a challenger.

"Slaking, use Hyper beam!" Norman ordered decisively.

Creating the powerful beam, Slaking shot it directly onto the challenger's Pokemon, which was a Tyrogue and the attack hit full on. After the dust disappeared, Tyrogue laid with curls in his eyes on the ground.

"Tyrogue is unable to continue the match and the challenger is out of useable Pokemon, therefore the winner of the match is Norman, Maple, gym leader of Petalburg!" The referee announced the official end of the match.

_Dad is really on a winning streak as of late … _Max thought.

After he said some comforting voice to the challenger, Norman noticed that his son was here as well.

"Max, I didn't notice that you watched my match." Norman said, approaching his son.

"Actually, I only watched the end of it, but it seems that you're on a winning streak, right?" Max responded casually.

"Did you expect something else from your father?" Norman replied rhetorically, but he noticed that Max was bored. "What's wrong?"

"… it's just that I already wait for five weeks that my Pokemon egg finally hatches and it's slightly boring in Petalburg, which makes the wait not better." Max explained truthfully.

"You could have accompanied May and Ash on their new journey." Norman suggested. "I'm sure that your mum and I could have watched over your Pokemon egg during that time, you know."

"No way that I would miss the hatching of my Pokemon egg, dad!" Max said, determined. "May and Ash will be fine on their own."

Norman suddenly had a thoughtful facial expression.

"Hmm … last time, May and Ash were here, it seemed that your sister kept something a secret." Norman said. "Do you know something about it?"

"Me?" Max pointed to himself. "I'm her brother and I'm sure that she wouldn't tell me her secrets. After all, she would kill me if I touched her diary somehow …"

However, Max lied, although he didn't know why his sister kept it a secret that she and Ash were together. Unfortunately, he promised May not to tell their father about the relationship until the time was right.

"Normally, I wouldn't feel good to know that she's traveling only with a boy, but Ash earned my trust and I'm sure that he won't start anything with her. You can't imagine what I would do to a guy, who seduces my daughter and everyone who conceals that!" Norman explained, clenching a fist.

Max started to sweat slightly.

"Is it too warm for you?" Norman asked, puzzled.

"No, everything's alright!" Max clarified innocently.

"Are you sure?" Norman raised an eyebrow. "The last time, you sweated like that, you lied to me about the reason why your computer was broken."

Max smiled sheepishly, trying to look innocent.

"MAAAAAAAAAAX!"

Suddenly, both males heard the voice of Caroline.

Max was relieved that his mother rescued him from this conversation with his dad, but he was confused why she was shouting like that.

Not even a second later, Caroline opened the door of the gym before she spotted her son.

"Max, your egg is about to hatch!" Caroline said excitedly, yet quickly.

"Really?" Max asked with sparkling eyes.

"Yes, but you need to hurry unless you want to miss the hatching!" Caroline said quickly and Max already left the gym again, with Norman following his two family members with a short distance. It was a huge moment for the boy, therefore everyone should be present.

Shortly thereafter, Max and Caroline entered the living room again.

The egg on the table laid on a pillow, but unlike before, it flashed several times in succession, just like how May's Pokemon egg of Eevee flashed before it hatched back in Kanto.

Immediately, Max and Caroline gathered around the table.

Norman stood behind them with crossed arms and a smile on his face.

The egg still flashed several times.

Quickly, Max remembered the Easter Orienteering again and how he found his Pokemon egg.

Suddenly, the egg stopped to flash before it shone brightly and the light became brighter and brighter with the second. Now, the shining egg started to change its form , spotting two small ears, a tail and four paws.

When the light vanished, a Pokemon looked at the Maple family.

"Poochyena yena!" It exclaimed curiously.

"Wow! It's a Poochyena!" Max said, amazed before he lifted the Pokemon off the table.

Immediately, the new-born Poochyena licked Max's face and the small boy was overjoyed that his Pokemon liked him very much. Laughing, Max was more than happy and his parents smiled at this new team.

"Poochyena, I want you to meet my parents!" Max said, holding the grey Pokemon towards his mother.

"It's nice to meet you, Poochyena and I'm sure that my son will care well for you." Caroline said, caressing the head of the new-born Pokemon.

"I'm glad to see that your Pokemon finally hatched, but I need to remind you that there's much work in front of you." Norman said strictly. "Poochyena needs a lot of attention and you need to make sure that it doesn't mess up our house, okay?"

Poochyena looked indifferent to the gym leader.

"I know, dad, however it's not the first time that I care for a Poochyena." Max said, smiling.

Max remembered that he already cared for a Poochyena on his journey with the others and he even helped him to evolve, but now he had to raise one from the start.

"Come on , Poochyena, I want to introduce you to Skitty, Beautifly and the others!" Max said enthusiastically before he ran playfully to the greenhouse again.

"Yena Yena!" The hyena followed the boy, tripping over its own paws several times before he left the living room as well.

Caroline looked slightly sadly towards the boy.

"He grows up too fast for my liking …" Caroline said, smiling weakly.

"You can't stop him from becoming more independent, Caroline." Norman clarified.

"I know …" Caroline said sadly before she looked to her husband again. "What do you think about another child?"

"Uh … what?"

* * *

Another place, another time

* * *

The sun started to set and the sky turned into a light red and several flying-types flew towards the horizon, but all in all, it was a quite quiet evening in the small town, Pewter city. At least, in most parts of it …

"Brock, when's dinner ready?" Tilly, the youngest of Brock's siblings, asked, pulling on the kitchen apron of her older brother. "I'm starving!"

"I told you that dinner is in the making!" Brock replied, trying to handle the situation.

"Brock, can you tell us a nice story until dinner is ready?" Tommy asked.

"Tommy, I can only do one thing at the same time and I'll tell you a story after dinner, okay?" Brock replied, being put under pressure once again by his siblings.

Now, Billy and Timmy chased each other around and they circled several times around Brock's legs, making it not easier for the oldest of the group. Salvadore and Yolanda waited eagerly for dinner, but unlike the others, they could at least sit still at the table.

"Forrest, could you please care for Billy and Timmy?" Brock asked desperately.

However, there wasn't an answer.

"Forrest went to the outside to meet a friend, Brock …" Suzie explained casually.

_I can't believe that mum and dad left me alone, only to go shopping … AGAIN! … Normally, I wanted to do some study for breeding, but … _Brock didn't have an easy life at home and the breeder didn't know how long it would be like that.

Cooking with one arm, Brock took some Pokeballs with his other arm before he released Bonsly and Marshtomp from their balls.

"Bonsly, Marshtomp, please play with my siblings as long as I prepare food, okay?" Brock said, sounding almost demanding, although it was just a request.

Immediately, Cindy, Tilly, Billy, Timmy and Suzie went to the Brock's Pokemon before they started to play with them. Due to all that attention, Bonsly didn't like it very much and the poor bonsai-Pokemon started to cry.

Marshtomp tried to calm his fellow Pokemon down, but it became even worse.

"Could you please go to the living room?" Brock said, visibly being annoyed, although he loved his siblings.

Marshtomp carried Bonsly to the living room and the remaining siblings followed him.

Finally, Brock had some time to finish his cooking and he wondered how Ash and May were doing.

"Brock, do you think that mum and dad are annoyed b us?" Yolanda asked.

"Why do you think that?" Brock asked, with a slight irritated voice.

"As soon as they get the possibility to leave us with someone else, they go away and most of the time, they don't return until late evening." Yolanda explained and Salvadore agreed with that.

"That has nothing to do with you." Brock clarified, trying to find a good answer. "Mum and Dad are just happy when they can spend some time together and within such a big family like ours, it can be quite difficult to find time for that, you know."

"If you say so …" Yolanda tried to believe it.

Eventually, Brock was finished with his cooking and he prepared the table for dinner.

"Do you already know which kind of Pokemon was within that egg that you brought with you?" Salvadore asked casually, skipping with his chair to the table.

"Well, it hasn't hatched as of now." Brock replied.

"Where is it then?" Yolanda asked curiously.

"I put it onto the table of the living room, because …" Brock suddenly realized something. "Darn! I forgot to tell your siblings to be careful around the egg!"

Immediately, Brock dashed to the living room. Once he was there, he saw that Billy and Timmy ran across the table, that Tilly and Suzie went across the couch and that his two Pokemon were completely overstrained with dismount of attention. Out of this whole group, it was Bonsly again that cried the most, but like usual, it were his fake tears.

However, Brock couldn't spot the light-brown Pokemon egg on his table.

"STOP EVERYONE!" Brock shouted, messing up his messed up hair even more.

Immediately, the Brocklings stopped and all of them were confused why their oldest brother yelled like that, even Bonsly had stopped to cry.

"Could someone please tell me what you did with the Pokemon egg that stood on the table?" Brock said strictly, pointing to a small pillow with a mould in it. Obviously, something had laid on the pillow, but now it was gone.

Brock's siblings looked to the pillow, but they had all puzzled facial expressions.

"Who took it away?" Brock asked sternly.

Brock looked to Tommy, but the boy shook his head. Next, Brock looked to Cindy, but the girl shook her head as well and one after another, all remaining siblings shook their heads as well, so it was nobody of them.

"Someone had to take it away! An egg doesn't go away like that!" Brock said.

"To be honest, brother Brock, there hasn't been an egg since we entered the room." Cindy said truthfully.

"There has to be one!" Brock said, determined. "We will wait with dinner until we found this Pokemon egg again. It's too dangerous to let it lay somewhere on the ground! Come on! The sooner we find it the sooner we can eat!"

Fortunately, Brock's siblings were well-raised, that's why they helped their big brother with their search. Looking everywhere, the siblings thought that it shouldn't be too difficult to find a not-moving object on the ground.

"Marshtomp, Bonsly, help us!" Brock said, slightly being under pressure.

Marshtomp immediately searched with them.

Suddenly, Bonsly saw something at the door to the floor and the bonsai creature tilted his head before he dashed to the floor of the house.

A few minutes later and Brock still hadn't found the egg and the breeder couldn't explain it.

"Brock, I'm very hungry now." Tilly said, holding her growling stomach.

Brock sighed, but he had a good heart. "Okay, you can go to the kitchen and have dinner; everything's already on the table, but I need to keep looking for the egg, no matter how long it will take!"

"We will help you again as soon as we ate, that's a promise!" Tilly said happily before she left the living room with the others.

Brock turned around the same pillow for the umpteenth time, without success of course.

"Where is it?" Brock said sternly. "An egg doesn't just grow legs!"

Suddenly, Bonsly dashed into the living room again before it shouted several times its name.

"What's wrong, Bonsly? I thought you would help me to find the egg …" Brock said, being slightly disappointed with his Pokemon.

The bonsai jumped hectically around before he explained everything to Marshtomp, at least the water-type could understand him. As soon as Marshtomp understood, he followed Bonsly to the floor and Brock, scratching his head, followed them as well.

"What's wrong with you two?" Brock asked when he entered the floor towards the bath.

Now, the breeder spotted a fallen clothes basket in the floor and several clothes were dropped out of it.

"Bonsly, how often did I tell you that there isn't any Pokemon food within our clothes baskets?"

Bonsly shook his head again and even Marshtomp defended the small Pokemon this time.

Nevertheless, Brock started to pile up the clothes again.

Suddenly, there was a noise before a small sparkle shot out of the opening of the basket before it ignited a socket in front of the clothes basket.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Brock immediately tried to extinguish the fire, but then, he heard some other noises from inside the clothes basket and the breeder carefully removed the cover sheet from the opening of the clothes basket before he peeked into it.

Fearfully, two eyes looked to the new person in front of it.

"Vulpix …" The small fox exclaimed.

Carefully, Brock lifted the new-born Pokemon out of the clothes basket before he looked happily towards it. Although he missed the hatching of his new Pokemon, Brock was nevertheless overjoyed to see the baby now.

"I can't believe that the egg hatched today and I already thought that we lost it." Brock said happily.

Vulpix looked unsurely around.

"Don't be afraid, Vulpix." Brock said with a comforting voice. "I'm Brock and the two Pokemon on the ground are my friends, Bonsly and Marshtomp."

After the Pokemon greeted each other, Vulpix became slightly fearful again.

"I guess, you hatched during my cooking and when my siblings entered loudly the living room, you hid within the floor and eventually, the clothes basket, right?" Brock asked rhetorically, but he already caressed the fur of the fire-type.

Ever since he cared for the Vulpix of Suzy, Brock had wanted to have an own Vulpix and today, he got one and he couldn't wait to show the fire-fox the world. More and more, Vulpix's fear disappeared and the fox moved slightly in Brock's arms around.

Unexpectedly, the front door opened.

"Children, we are back!" Lola said loudly from the door.

Seemingly, Brock's parents had come back and almost the whole family welcomed Flint and Lola back at the door.

"Well, it's time to meet my family, Vulpix!" Brock said, with a weird smile.

Nevertheless, Brock started to think.

_Finally, my Pokemon egg hatched, but I'm sure that Vulpix wants to see the world … As much as I love my family, I know that I'll learn more about breeding when I travel through the regions and Vulpix will see much more of the world … I guess, mum and dad won't have a problem to care for my siblings again … _

Brock, with Vulpix in his arms, walked to the front door to introduce their newest family member.

"If I can still catch up with Ash and May on their new journey? …" Brock wondered.

* * *

Somewhere on the ocean

* * *

Laying flat on her back, May looked up to half a ribbon that she held within her fingers and she thought about several things. It was a beautiful ribbon and it would always be an important part to her, because she shared the other half with Ash.

Remembering, May thought about the Terracotta contest, where she battled Ash after he had won the Battle Frontier trophy.

It had been a hard-fought battle, but in the end, it was a draw.

In the corner of the room on top of a small night table were two egg containers and both of them hadn't changed much since the day there were found.

"What are you thinking?"

Suddenly, May was pulled out of her thoughts by Ash and the boy stood between the doorframes of their cabin of the cruise, looking slightly worriedly towards his girlfriend.

" …" May sighed before she smiled again. "I just thought about the Terracotta contest, Ash."

Now, Ash walked to May before he sat down next to her on their bed.

"I'm just happy that we found this new region, this Sinnoh region, you know. After you won against Brandon, we didn't know where we could travel next and it could have been that we need to split up to follow our dreams, but I doubt that I would have been able to do that." May explained slightly sadly.

"Why did you thought that?" Ash asked slightly puzzled. "I would have traveled with you to Jotho, so you could have competed at the contests there."

"I knew you would, but I would have felt bad, because you already have all the badges of Jotho and Scott said that it could take some time until he could launch a Battle Frontier for Jotho as well …" May explained thoughtfully.

"I wouldn't mind some rematches with the Jotho gym leaders." Ash said enthusiastically.

May sighed playfully once more. "You would always see the positive in it, wouldn't you? Nevertheless, the Terracotta ribbon is very important to me, because it marked the end of our journey through Kanto and with my brother."

Now, Ash pulled his half of the Terracotta ribbon out of his pocket.

"It's a very good good luck charm as well, isn't it?" Ash said, chuckling.

"Of course, it is!" May replied before she looked to the small wardrobe of their room. "Where are Pikachu and Aipom by the way?"

"They are still on the deck at the railing to enjoy the cold breeze of the sea." Ash replied casually.

May stood up before she walked slowly to the wardrobe.

"Like you said, it's great to travel to Sinnoh now, although it was slightly embarrassing that I lost to Gary in front of you before he told us about it …" Ash said, being slightly annoyed.

"You should know that I'm not disappointed about that defeat, Ash. Pikachu was great in that match and Gary's Electivire was just too powerful at that time." May tried to comfort her boyfriend.

"Thanks, May. It's just that I want to be strong enough to protect you." Ash explained.

"You don't have to put yourself under pressure, Ash. Don't forget that we are a team and that means that we help each other all the time, no matter how huge the challenge is." May explained before she looked at something within the wardrobe.

"I'm still curious why you insisted …" Ash wanted to ask something.

"Could you please close your eyes, Ash? I want to change my clothes." May said sweetly.

"Why don't you change your clothes in the bathroom or I could look for Pikachu and Aipom at the railing while you're changing …" Ash said naively.

"It's a surprise, Ash, so please close your eyes until I allow you to open then again." May repeated.

Ash just couldn't deny May's wishes and he closed his eyes, not exactly knowing why May made it so difficult again. After some seconds of silence, Ash wondered for some reason how May looked without clothes and he immediately blushed before he threw those thoughts out of his mind again.

"Didn't you want to ask something, Ash?" May asked unexpectedly.

Still keeping his eyes shut, Ash hesitated before he answered. "Well, I just wondered why you insisted that we shouldn't tell your parents anything about us, you know."

"I already told you once, Ash, that my dad would immediately put you under probation and to be honest, that would be extremely annoying." May replied, still changing her clothes.

"I'm sure that I could speak with him about it."

"We'll tell them it eventually, but now, I would love to keep it a secret from them." May replied strictly.

Ash wasn't sure, but he knew that May knew more about this relationship-stuff than him anyway.

"You can open your eyes again, Ash." May said sweetly.

As soon as Ash opened his eyes again, he saw that May wore some kind of dress and he looked directly to her. She wore a long, light-purple skirt with an orange pattern around her waist, a belly-free, orange top with a heart symbol in front of hit and a stunning headdress that made her hair even more beautiful.

"You look beautiful, May." Ash said truthfully.

"Thanks, Ash." May said, blushing. "Before we started our journey, I read an article about the contests in Sinnoh and I learned that coordinators wear different costumes during their appeals and matches, therefore I didn't waste a chance to buy a dress."

"You really look like a princess of Hoenn now, May." Ash said with a smile. "However, doesn't that mean that you bought this dress for your contests than rather for me?"

"Who told you that I can use a dress only for one thing?" May said, putting playfully her hands on her hips. "According to your reaction, you like my dress and I'm sure that you like the girl that wears it, right?"

"Of course, I love you, May." Ash said quickly.

Now, May skipped to Ash before she pulled the trainer off the bed by his wrists.

When Ash looked May into her eyes, he knew that she pleaded him for a kiss and the raven-haired boy leaned forward before he kissed her passionately on her lips. During the last weeks, he learned how he could understand his feelings and he loved it to show them his girlfriend.

With Pikachu and Aipom on the deck, May loved it to have some time alone with her boyfriend and she pushed Ash gently onto the bed before she continued to share a kiss with him.

Eventually, they broke apart before May looked dreamingly down to Ash.

Wiping a hair away from May's face, Ash just smiled sweetly back.

"Can you believe that it has already been seven weeks since the Easter Orienteering?" May asked thoughtfully, putting her head onto Ash's chest.

"It's hard to believe, I know, however, I loved every day since then and I can't wait to experience new adventures with you." Ash replied, caressing May's lower back with his hand.

May enjoyed the warmth of Ash's chest and she almost drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly, Ash spotted that something was shining and the trainer lifted his head before he saw that it was finally time.

"May! Come on, May!" Ash shook May gently.

"It's just so comfortable, Ash …" May complained playfully.

"I don't want to disturb you, but it seems that one of our Pokemon eggs is about to hatch!" Ash said enthusiastically.

Not wasting another second, May lifted her body before she looked to the corner of the room and indeed, one of their Pokemon eggs was shining brightly.

"We completely forgot about them!" May said guiltily.

Now, both teens stood up before they walked to their Pokemon eggs.

"Which one is it?" Ash asked before he looked concentrated to the containers. "It's the orange egg! May, it's your Pokemon egg!"

"It's finally hatching …" May said thoughtfully, shielding slightly her eyes.

Ash immediately dashed to the door of their cabin before he opened it. Once it was wide open, he shouted through the whole corridor and towards the deck.

"PIKACHU! AIPOM! IT'S TIME! THE FIRST EGG IS ABOUT TO HATCH!"

Unfortunately, several other doors opened and some passengers were disturbed by Ash's loud calls and the raven-haired trainer sheepishly apologized to them.

Nevertheless, Pikachu and Aipom eventually returned to the room and Aipom grinned widely.

When Pokemon and trainers were within the room again, Ash closed it before he heard May once again.

"Ash! Your egg is shining as well!" May said, surprised.

"What?" Ash said with disbelieve. "Both at the same time!"

Indeed, both Pokemon eggs were shining brightly and it seemed that both eggs had influenced each other during the last time. Pikachu and Aipom looked curiously to the soon-to-be-Pokemon, which would be undoubtedly their friends.

"Ash, please place yourself next to me!" May motioned towards Ash to come to her. "I want that they see us at the same time."

Apparently, May wanted that their new Pokemon would see them as their parents, just like it was with Manaphy and her all the time ago.

After Ash put an arm around May's waist, the couple waited eagerly for the faces of their new Pokemon. The orange egg was the first that changed its form and it grew two legs, two arms, a tail and a slim body.

Next was the blue egg and it created a similar body.

May and Ash grew a smile.

Then, the light vanished around both Pokemon.

"Charmander!"

"Riolu!"

"Wow! Look, May, you're the mother of a Charmander!" Ash said, amazed.

"You mean that we are the parents of a Charmander and a Riolu, right?" May corrected her boyfriend with a smile before she bowed down to the new Pokemon, which were visibly confused right now.

Charmander tilted her head before she looked to the side to spot the equal big Riolu.

Of course, both Pokemon were slightly fearful at the beginning.

"I'm happy to welcome you in our world, you two." May said sweetly to the two Pokemon.

Pikachu lifted his paw to welcome the new friends.

Immediately, Aipom jumped onto the night table before she jumped enthusiastically around the two Pokemon, but unfortunately, she scared both of them slightly. Calming down a little, Aipom apologized to them before she chatted with the Pokemon.

"Charmander, Riolu, I'm Ash and that's my girlfriend, May. Next to you is Aipom and the Pokemon on the ground is my pal Pikachu." Ash explained quickly.

"Oh, wait!" May said, remembering something or rather someone.

Immediately, she went to her fanny pack before she pulled the Pokeball of her Eevee out of it.

When the fox left its Pokeball, it materialized next to Pikachu and the rodent immediately introduced her to the new newly-hatched Pokemon on the night table. Of course, Eevee greeted Riolu and Charmander nicely.

Still, Riolu and Charmander were curious what was all of this.

"You should know that you hatched at the same time." May said nicely.

Of course, the two Pokemon didn't understand what it meant to hatch.

"They're still babies, May." Ash said, chuckling. "I doubt that we should explain to them where the small baby Pokemon come from."

"Really?" May said with a smile. "It seems that you know a lot about babies, right? Perhaps, you'll be the perfect father for our children then and we can start even earlier than expected."

Ash immediately blushed. "What? I didn't mean it like that!"

Eevee, Pikachu and Aipom laughed at the naïve trainer and even May couldn't hold back her laughter after she embarrassed her boyfriend. Slowly but surely, Riolu and Charmander lost their fear and they were happy to see all those friendly faces in front of them.

"You should have seen your face, Ash! It was just priceless." May said sweetly.

Ash was still embarrassed.

"What do you think, you two?" May turned to Riolu and Charmander again. "Do you want to accompany us on our new journey through Sinnoh?"

Riolu and Charmander thought silently before they nodded, although they didn't know what would expect them on this so-called journey.

The cruise floated across the ocean towards the new region called Sinnoh and soon, Ash, May and their Pokemon would experience new adventures. After all, the Easter Orienteering caused much more than expected and who knew what would happen from now on.

"Ash, do you want to share …?" May wanted to ask.

"A kiss?" Ash asked.

"Actually, I meant a shower." May said, smiling.

Once again, Ash's face heated up before he understood. "May, please stop to embarrass me like that!"

"As long as your faces are such priceless, I don't know if I'm able to withstand the temptation." May replied, smiling brightly.

Now, everyone laughed, even Riolu and Charmander, which were officially part of the group now.

"On the other hand, I would love to know how it is to share a shower with you, Ash." May said curiously, blushing and showing some of her teenage curiosity again.

**End of the story!**

* * *

**That's the end of the story and I hope that you had a laugh now and then. Actually, the whole group is on the cruise towards Sinnoh and it would continue exactly like in the Anime, with the exception that May and Ash are together. **

**I would appreciate if you read some of my other stories, for example Time can't heal every pain or Max's Birthday Wish. **

**I hope you like this ending, because it's normally hard for me to finish a story. **


End file.
